


Letters to Padfoot

by EnterUserNameHere



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Faked Death, mentioned minor character death, mentions of child abuse, pairings aren't super important to the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-03-09 12:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3249716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnterUserNameHere/pseuds/EnterUserNameHere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily and James were supposed to be dead. Trusting Sirius with their son they moved to New York city to hide out until they received word that the trials for Death Eaters were over. They didn't expect to find a child beaten half to death in an alley. What could they do but take him in?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> For the purposes of this story, Lily and James "died" in 1998 not 1981.

James Potter opened his eyes with a groan. His head was pounding. He sat up slowly and looked around. The room had most of the furniture thrown around and alot of the books had been torn apart and were now strewn all over the place.

He stood shakily and leaned against the wall. Memories of the night before washed over him suddenly.

Voldemort had come to their house. He'd been cursed, he should be dead. A growl tore out of his throat. Peter. They'd trusted him. How long had he been a traitor? He covered his face with his hands. They should should've let Sirius be Secret Keeper. Or Remus. Anyone but that rat really.

A new thought smacked him in the face. Lily and Harry. Had they made it out? He was a little upset that they were hoods second thought and not hid first. Still, he guessed that could be blamed on the concussion he, no doubt, had. James rushed up the stairs to check on his wife and child.

"Lily?" He called. 'Please be okay. Please answer. Please, please, please.' He thought. It was a steady mantra in his mind. 'Be okay, you have to be okay.'

He made it to the nursery as quickly as he could. Lily was standing by the crib with a hand over her heart and tears running silently down her face.

"Lily?" She turned to face him. "Is Harry-"

"He's not here." She sounded rather heartbroken. "He's gone. My baby, I don't know where he is or if he's okay. I-"

James put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. He ran a hand through her hair gently. "Shh. It'll be alright. Someone probably just came to get him before we woke up. I'm sure he's safe with Sirius. How much do you remember from last night?"

"After-" She swallowed. "After I went upstairs, I barricaded the door. I'd left my wand downstairs and there was no way for me to get out safely with Harry. Then-then *he* blasted through the door. He told me he'd let me live if I let him kill our baby. I begged him to kill me instead and leave Harry alone. I said I'd do anything. He-he used the Killing Curse to get me out of the way. I should be dead. How am I not dead?"

"I don't know. He used it on me too. I'd say we were ghosts, but they can't move things. Plus, I've got a killer headache and Siri told me ghosts can't get those."

"How would he know?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" James arched an eyebrow at her.

"No."

He smirked in response. "I thought so." The smirk faded. "Hold on."

He ran downstairs, grabbed their wands, and summoned the newspaper. Then he hurried back to Lily. He handed her her wand and they looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet together.

There on the front page was an article about Voldemort's downfall. Their son was given most of the credit for it. Neither really cared about Harry's sudden fame, just that he was alive. Once they'd both finished reading, James dropped the paper and hugged his wife in relief. Lily returned it, laughing softly.

"He's okay." She smiled.

They felt no need to read about the arrests or upcoming trials. They were confident that the Ministry, with Dumbledore's help, would catch the remaining Death Eaters and send them to Azkaban, where they belonged. The only question was how long it would take.

"Lily, if people find out we're alive..." He trailed off.

"They'll start hunting us." She finished. "The Death Eaters would never let us live in peace. Not considering our part in their Lord's failure."

James hesitated. He hated being the one to say it but, it seemed like the best way to keep Harry safe until the trials ended. "Sirius will take good care of Harry until the trials are over. He can owl us when it's safe."

"No. I won't leave my son."

"Lily-"

"No!" She glared at her husband. "We can take him with us. We'll go to America or something."

He sighed. "Lily, people can recognize is more easily than they could recognize a baby. We're easier targets. If we take Harry they'll know without a doubt that it's him. All of us will be hunted. If we leave, Sirius can make sure he's safe. No one will look for us, since they think we're dead. We'll all be safe and we can see him again once the rest of the Death Eaters are in Azkaban."

Lily frowned. "He's famous James, they'll know it's him anyway."

"If we take him he'll be easier to find. I don't want to leave him either, but I think it's the best way."

She chewed her lower lip, thinking. "We'll come back for him?"

"As soon as we get word. How long can a few trials take? We'll probably be back with him before his fifth birthday."

"FIFTH?"

"Just being conservative, dear."

She sighed reluctantly. "I've always wanted to see New York."


	2. Five Years Later

James was walking home from work when he saw a small child laying in an alley. He moved closer and saw that the boy was bleeding pretty badly. He looked pretty young. Five at the oldest and had black hair that looked filthy. He was curled in a ball and his shoulders shook slightly.

James crouched next to him and touched his shoulder gently. The boy flinched away from him with a small cry of fear. He looked up quickly. Wide green eyes stared, tear tracks stained his cheeks. James felt a pang in his chest. The green was different, there was more blue in them. Still, it reminded him a little of the son he and Lily had had to leave behind.

He smiled at the boy. "Hello. What's your name?" He figured that was a good place to start. The boy would probably respond better to questions about what had happened and where his parents were if he was called by name.

He hesitated. "Percy." His voice was so quiet James almost didn't hear him.

"Nice to meet you Percy. Could you tell me where your parents are?"

Percy's guard was up in an instant. "Why?"

"So I can take you home."

"No!" He shouted. "You can't take me back! I won't let you take me back!"

James held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, calm down. Can you tell me how you got hurt?"

Percy chewed on his lower lip. "I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers."

He blinked twice. 'Okay running out of time here.' The boy hadn't stopped bleeding yet. "My name's James Potter. I live a couple blocks from here. My wife is named Lily. Hmm, let's see. I've got a pretty boring job you wouldn't care to hear about, and, oh we moved here from London. There. Now I'm not a stranger. Will you let me help you now?"

"Is that why you sound different?"

He laughed. "That's right. Though, to be fair, everyone in London would sound different to you."

The boy nodded, "Okay." he tensed to run and whispered, "Are you gonna take me to an orphanage?"

"No. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Okay."

James scooped the child up and started walking home again.

\--------------------------------line break-----------------------------

Lily was humming to herself as she cooked. James would be home soon and she didn't want to risk his offers to help. He was a truly awful cook.

She set the timer for the oven and went into their bedroom to look at the photo album. They only had two pictures of Harry and she spent a lot of time staring at them. She hoped Sirius was taking good care of her baby. It had been five years since she'd seen him. And she really hoped someone would send word soon. She was afraid that something had happened to them. Or that they hadn't found their message.

She considered writing another letter. They couldn't send them of course, but they wrote anyway. It made them feel like they still had some connection to their friends. Lily burned the ones that didn't have anything important in them.

Lily almost jumped when she heard the front door open.

"Lily! Remember that time when I came home and you said 'congratulations, you're gonna be a dad!'?"

Lily frowned, suspicious. "I remember. Why?" She walked back into the living room.

"Congratulations. You're a mom."

She pressed a hand to her mouth in shock. James stood in the middle of the room with a little boy passed out in his arms. The boy looked pretty beaten up and was bleeding a little.

"James, why do you have a child?"

"I found him." He grinned. "His name's Percy." He sobered up again. "His stepfather beat his mother to death this morning before turning on him." The smile came back. "Can we keep him?"

"He's not a puppy James!" She hissed. "Where's his father?"

"Dead. Sorry, lost at sea is what his mom always told him, but really, dead." He set Percy on the couch. "Please Lily, we can't send him back to the man who murdered his mother."

She huffed and went to get her wand and some clean towels. "We'll need to go shopping for him as soon as possible. Tomorrow would be ideal. Do you have the day off? Someone should stay with him and I don't think he'll be able to go out." She came back in, set the towels on the coffee table,and got a bowl of water.

"Lily you're the best." He grinned.

She started cleaning up the boy's wounds and cast a couple spells to speed up the healing process. "Well, we can't send a child back to an abusive home. Besides, what if Harry ended up in a situation like this somehow? We'd want someone to help him." She paused. "We have to be sure he doesn't have any other family to go to before we make it official."

James nodded.

Percy stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He tensed up and looked around. Once he caught sight of James he relaxed a little, pleased to see someone he recognized. When he saw Lily he frowned.

"Hi." She said softly. She smiled at him, hoping to put him at ease. "I'm Lily. You're name's Percy, right?"

"Yes."

"Percy, do you have any family we can take you to?"

"Not 'less you count Smelly Gabe." He looked panicked. "You can't take me back to him! He promised," Percy pointed at James. "He promised you wouldn't take me back. I'll- I'll run away again!"

"Hey. It's okay. Calm down we're not going to take you back." James assured him. "I did promise after all."

He relaxed again.

"If you want, you could stay with us." Lily told him.

"I- really? You don't even know me." He frowned.

"True. But we could give it a try. Besides, we can't just throw you back on the streets after we went to all this trouble to make sure you were okay." James smirked.

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "What do you say?"

He thought for a moment. "Will you hurt me like Smelly Gabe did?"

"Absolutely not!" Lily answered fiercely. James nodded in agreement.

"Okay. I think I could try it then." He smiled a little.

"Good. Now both of you go wash your hands. Dinner's ready."

\------------------------------line break---------------------------

It took a little over four months to get through the official adoption process. They planned on taking Percy to the beach over the summer to celebrate.

The night before they left James was tucking Percy in when the boy whispered, "James?"

"Yes?"

"You and Lily are my parents now, right?"

"That's right." He smiled.

"Does that mean I should call you mommy and daddy instead of Lily and James?"

James blinked in surprise. "You can if you want to. You don't have to though."

"I think I'd like to." The five year old answered.

James grinned and kissed his forehead. "Go to sleep Percy. We're headed to the beach tomorrow."

"G'night daddy." Percy curled up under the covers.

"Good night." James was still grinning as he turned out the light and left the room.

\-------------------------------line break-------------------------------

At the beach, James and Percy started building a sandcastle the second they changed into their swimsuits. Lily stood in the water, staring at the horizon.

"Hello." A voice said.

She jumped. There hadn't been anyone else on the beach when they'd come out. She turned. Standing next to her was a man.

He was tall with black hair falling to his shoulders, a beard, and bright green eyes that looked like Percy's.

"Who are you?" She took a step back towards the shore.

"My name is Poseidon. Please, don't freak out or anything. I just want to talk."

"Poseidon? Interesting name."

"I've been told." He chuckled.

"Go on then. Talk."

"I suppose I should just jump right into this. You know of the Greek gods?" She nodded. "I'm one of them. You recently adopted my son, so I thought it was only fair to warn you of the dangers that will come for him."

"Wait. You're that Poseidon? Seriously?"

"Oh I'm quite serious. I can prove it if you'd like."

"No! No, that's okay."

He smiled. "Right. I need to be quick. Zeus can't interfere in my territory, which is why I had to wait until you came here before I could speak to you, but it's best not to take chances." He started telling her about Camp Half Blood, she nearly burst out laughing at the name, and that Percy should *never,* under any circumstances, get on a plane. When he told her about the monsters she started thinking about which charms she could use to protect him. She'd failed with one son, she couldn't do it again.

Once he'd finished and left, Lily walked back to where Percy and James had just finished building their sandcastle.

"Mommy, look at what I made!" Percy was grinning as he gestured to the castle.

"Wow. That looks wonderful. Did your dad help at all?" James looked offended at that. Lily smirked at him.

"Well," Percy mused. "Maybe a little bit."

"A little bit, huh?" James growled playfully. He tackled Percy and started tickling him.

Percy squealed and laughed, trying to get away. They ended up crashing into the sandcastle. Lily watched, laughing. She could tell James about Poseidon's visit later, when Percy was asleep.


	3. Age Six

James was sitting in the living room, finishing his letter to Remus and Sirius. Percy had been with them for almost a year now. He was an adorable little boy and James was ridiculously happy that he'd found him and brought him home last year. Still, it was becoming increasingly obvious that he had a knack for getting into trouble.

"Daddy, Daddy!" Percy came running into the room with a huge grin on his face, showing off the gap where his loose tooth had been.

James smiled at him and scooped him up into his lap. "Hey there little fox, your tooth finally fall out?"

He nodded and held out the tooth proudly for James to see.

"Wow. How'd that happen?"

"I bited an orange and it just fell out. Mommy said the tooth fairy will come tonight now. Does that mean we have to leave cookies out for her? Like with Santa?"

"Um..." He frowned. The tooth fairy was a muggle thing, how was he supposed to know? Then again it was really just him and Lily so it wouldn't make much difference. "Nope. Just the tooth."

"Oh." He thought for a moment. "Daddy, what does she do with the tooths she gets?"

"Teeth. And, I don't really know. Maybe your mom does. You can ask her later if you really wanna know."

"Okay. What're you writing?"

"A letter to a couple of old friends."

"What's it say?"

James laughed softly. "You're awfully curious today, Percy."

He put his head on James's shoulder. "Sorry, Daddy."

"Never apologize for being curious." He smiled. "Have you practiced reading today?" Percy shook his head. "Well, you can read this as practice then. I'll help."

"Really?"

"Sure. Here ya go." He handed the paper to him. "Go on."

Percy stared at the paper for a couple seconds before he started hesitantly. "'Day-er.'"

"Dear."

"Oh. 'Dear Moony and Pad-fo-t.'"

"Padfoot."

"Padfoot." Percy repeated. He wrinkled his nose. "Those are funny names."

James smiled and told him to keep going.

"'Dear Moony and *Padfoot,* I hop-e?'"

"Hope." 

"'Hope you and Harry are doing well.' Daddy, who's Harry?"

James froze. "How about we wait until you're done reading before you ask questions? Then you can get them all out of the way at once."

"Okay." He shrugged. He shifted in James's lap, getting more comfortable before he continued. "'Lie-why.'"

James actually laughed at that. He couldn't help it. "Lily. That's your mom's name remember?"

"Oh. I didn't know that's what it looked like on paper."

"It's okay." He was still grinning a bit. "Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. Go on. I promise I won't do it again."

"I'm still learning Daddy. Pinky promise you won't laugh again." He held his pinky up.

James touched it with his own. "Pinky promise."

"Okay. 'Lily,'" He paused to give James a pointed look. "'And I mice.'"

"Miss."

"'Miss you all lick-'"

"Like."

"'Like crazy. I-ts.'"

"It's."

"'It's bee-nn si-x.'"

"Six."

"'Six years si-n-kee.'"

"Since." James couldn't help but grin. He did manage to keep himself from laughing though.

"'Since we last saw you. I bet Harry's re-all-y'"

"Really."

"'Really e-x-k-i-ted.'"

"Excited."

"'Excited to go to Ho-go-rats.'"

"Hogwarts. It's the school your mom and I went to. You start when you turn eleven."

"Will I go there too?"

"Maybe." James laughed. "If Padfoot writes by then, well, we'll see. And hey, what did I tell you about questions?"

Percy giggled.

He tried to look stern, but ended up shaking his head with a small smile tugging on his lips. "Keep reading."

"Yes, Daddy." He smirked a bit. "'To go to Hogwarts in a few years. I got a pro-mo-tee-on.'"

"Promotion. It means I get more money."

"Oh. 'A promotion at work. Lily is th-ink-ing aboot.'"

"About. We're not Canadian little fox."

"Oh. Daddy, what's this part say?"

"'Lily's thinking about getting a degree in nursing.'" He read.

"What's that?"

"It means she's training to be a doctor's helper."

"So she's gonna help sick people get better?" Percy asked, excited.

"That's right. This is the second time you've snuck in a question little fox."

He grinned and started reading again. "'She's not sir.'"

"Sure."

"'Sure be-cay-use.'"

"Because."

"'Because you mi-ga-th.'"

"Might."

"'Might con-ta-ct us soon. We're hopping'"

"Hoping."

"'Hoping you will. Percy got e-x-peel-led.'"

"Expelled."

"'Expelled from school.' Daddy I told you it was a accident!"

"I know Percy. I'm just letting Padfoot know that it happened. You're not in trouble."

"Okay." He sighed, relieved.

"Go on. You're almost done."

He let out an overdramatic sigh before continuing. "'Things are pre-t-y'"

"Pretty."

"'Pretty qua-ee-t'"

"Quiet."

"'Quiet right now so this let-ter is sh-or-t. Sorry *about*'" Percy smiled proud that he remembered to say it right. "'That. Still *hoping* to he-are'"

"Hear."

"'To hear from you, Pro-n-gahs.'"

"Prongs."

"Can I ask questions now Daddy?"

He chuckled. "Go ahead, little fox."

"Why do you all have funny names?"

"They're nicknames. We have them to each other back when we were in school together."

"Nicknames? Like how you call me little fox?"

"That's right,"

"Does Mommy have one?"

"No."

"Who's Harry?"

Of course. Straight on to the more difficult questions. "Harry is our biological son."

"Biological?" He repeated slowly.

"He's our son by blood."

"Does that mean he's my brother?" Percy looked hopeful. He'd asked if they could get him a sibling a couple of times recently.

"Yeah."

"Where is he then?" He asked with a frown.

"In England, with Padfoot. Probably getting spoiled silly." He added with a smile.

"Why isn't he here with us?"

"That's a long story, little fox." Percy looked up at him expectantly. James sighed. "Before we moved here a very bad man was trying to hurt your mom and I. When Harry was a year old he found out where we lived. He almost got us, so we left Harry safe with Padfoot and came here to hide. Once the bad man and his friends are sent to jail, Padfoot will send us a letter to let us know we can go back."

Percy looked down sadly. "So when he sends the letter, you and Mommy are gonna leave me?"

"No!" James hugged him tighter. "No. When Sirius, I mean Padfoot, sends for us you'll go back with us."

He looked up. "Promise?"

"I promise. We'd never leave you behind, little fox." He kissed the top of his head. "Now, got any more questions for me?"

"What does Harry look like?"

James frowned. "Well, when I last saw him he had black hair, though I imagine he'd have more of it now, and green eyes, like your mom's. He was still a baby when we left so that's really all I can tell you right now."

"So he looked like me?"

"A bit. His eyes didn't have as much blue in them as yours do though." James smiled at him. "Anything else?"

He thought for a second. "Nope." With that, he kissed James's cheek and ran off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you wondering why James calls Percy "little fox," part of the reason is because it seemed like a good plan at the time (and I thought it was cute). It's also because foxes are adorable and people always underestimate Percy's intelligence, which he starts using to his advantage. (Plus James has taught him a lot of pranks by now and Percy's very careful with when he uses them and who he uses them against.)


	4. Age Seven

Lily walked into their apartment and kicked her shoes off, exhausted. It had been a long day.

"James, Percy, I'm home." She called. She walked over to the couch and sank onto it with a sigh.

James walked into the room. "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. "Where's Percy?"

"Weren't you picking him up from school today?" He asked with a frown.

"No. I had to work later, so you said you'd do it."

"No I didn't." She gave him a look. His eyes slowly widened in horror. "I did. Oh no."

"You forgot him!" She snapped. "James, it's already four, school's been out for an hour!"

He grabbed his jacket and went for the door. "I'll go now. And- and I'll figure out some way to make it up to him. He won't hold a grudge for long, right?"

She sighed. "Take an umbrella, it's going to rain. And call the second you have him, got it?"

He nodded. "I got it." He rushed out the door.

\-----------------------line break---------------------

Lily chewed her lower lip nervously as she waited. She and James had bought cell phones about a year after they'd moved here. Hers was clutched in her hand. Finally, it rang.

"Hello? James? Is he upset? What am I saying? Of course he's upset. *How* upset is he?" She fired off questions while taping her foot anxiously.

"He's not at school." James sounded defeated.

"WHAT?"

"No one's here, Lily. Percy's gone."

"I'll meet you at the school. Have you tried calling his teacher yet? Maybe she saw where he was going."

"I'll try it. What's the number?"

She rattled it off as she pulled her jacket and shoes on.

"Alright. I'll call as soon as you hang up. See you soon."

"Bye." She hung up and ran out the door.

\----------------------line break------------------------

Apparently, Percy's teacher had no idea where Percy had gone. Which meant that Lily and James were running around in a thunderstorm, desperately trying to find their seven year old son. After looking around the school for about half an hour, James started stopping random people and asking if they'd seen him.

Lily found him about two hours after they'd widened their search. She'd been looking around Percy's favorite playground in Central Park. It seemed like a long shot, but they were running out of places to look. Lily was terrified that someone might have kidnapped him or something. She didn't want to lose another son.

"Percy?" She yelled. She'd lost track of her umbrella and was now soaked to the skin. "Where are you?"

Lily winced when there was another crash of thunder. Percy was scared of thunderstorms. She remembered how, during their first storm with Percy, they'd found out that his old stepfather, "Smelly Gabe," used to beat him during storms. The bastard said that Percy was too loud and too old to still be scared of thunder. The beatings were meant to "toughen him up" and "keep him quiet." It took the better part of two years for him to start to get over the fear. He needed to be distracted to keep from being afraid, out here with nothing to make him feel safe, he'd be terrified.

When the thunder boomed again, she heard a small voice cry out in fear. 'Percy.'

Lily ran towards the sound. Percy was curled into a ball under the slide. He was shivering violently and completely soaked. She sent James a text as she walked over and crouched next to him.

She reached out and touched his shoulder. "Percy?" He looked up and threw himself at her, hiding his face in her neck when they heard thunder again. "What are you doing out here, baby?"

He sniffled and hugged her a little tighter. "Y-you said D-daddy was going t-to get me t-today. An-and I w-waited but h-he d-didn't come. I-i tried to w-walk h-home but I g-got l-lost."

She picked him up. "Let's get you home and dried off. Then we can talk okay?"

"Ok-kay."

\--------------------------line break-------------------

James was waiting for them when they got home. Lily set Percy down and closed the door. James dropped to his knees and hugged the little boy tight.

"Oh Percy. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize what time it was until your mom got home."

Percy didn't react to James's hug. After he'd let go, the boy whispered, "Can I have a towel now?"

"Of course." Lily went to get one for each of them. She wrapped Percy up and sat him on the couch between the two of them.

"Percy, how long did you wait until you tried to walk home?" She asked, brushing his hair off his forehead.

"An hour and," He paused, thinking. "Thirty minutes. I think."

"It couldn't have been that long." James protested. "I was only an hour late."

Percy scowled at him. "It was longer than an hour, Daddy."

Lily frowned. "You get out at three and Daddy went to get you just before four. It doesn't take half an hour to get to your school, so it really couldn't have been that long."

Percy's glare shifted to Lily. She blinked, seven year olds should *not* be able to glare that fiercely. "It's Friday." He snapped. "I get out at 1:45 and I waited until the clock said 3:25"

James paled a little and Lily froze. She'd forgotten that it was Friday. "You're right. I completely forgot it was Friday."

Percy's expression became almost sickly sweet. "Oh, that's okay. I'm just Harry's replacement after all. I guess I shouldn't get attached to you anyway. You'll probably ship me off to some orphanage once Padfoot writes. Wouldn't want your charity case to get in the way when you get your *real* son back!" He jumped off the couch and fled to his room.

\------------------------line break-----------------

Lily was horrified at first, then she was irritated. He seriously thought that he was a charity case? A replacement? She wanted to summon Poseidon and punch him for abandoning Percy in the first place. Then go find his former stepfather and punch him in a much more painful place for giving the child so many insecurities. However, since she couldn't do either of those things, she decided to go reassure her son.

She left James on the couch and went to knock on the door to Percy's room. "Percy? Can I come in?"

No answer.

She rolled her eyes and pushed the door open anyway. Percy was lying on his bed with his back to the door. She walked over and sat on the bed next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her. Lily felt her heart break a little when she saw the tear tracks on his face.

"Percy-"

The thunder cut her off. Percy flinched. She pulled him into her arms, rubbed his back, and started singing softly. They'd learned early on that music was a good way to calm him down.

After she let go she wiped a couple tears off his face. "Percy, you know that your Dad and I love you. We'd never abandon you. Today was an accident. I understand that you're upset because we forgot it was a short day and everything, but what you said was totally uncalled for. I don't want to hear you say it again, okay?"

"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "It's kind of true though. You adopted me cause I look a bit like Harry. You won't need me anymore, once you've got him."

"Honestly, we don't *need* you now." She told him with a frown. He looked down. "But we love you. We like having you around. Neither of us wants that to change anytime soon. Besides, you'd make an awful replacement."

"I would?"

She nodded. "Harry's a year older than you, so you can't be a replacement." She sighed dramatically. "We'll have to live you as Percy I'm afraid."

He smiled a bit.

"Come on, let's see if your dad's over the shock yet."

"Sorry." He ducked his head.

She ruffled his still damp hair and they left the room. James was still sitting on the couch. Hazel eyes wide and face pale.

Percy walked hesitantly over to him. "Daddy?"

He sat on the couch and wrapped his arms around him. James paused for a second before returning the gesture.

"Are you mad at me, Daddy?"

"Not really." James hugged him tighter. "Just sad that you think that way."

"I didn't really mean it. And I'm really sorry for saying it."

"Good. I'm sorry I forgot. It won't happen again, I promise." He kissed the top of his head. "I love you very much, little fox."

"Love you too, Daddy."

Lily watched her boys with a smile before going to order some pizza for dinner. They were cuddling when she got back. She joined them and they picked a movie to watch while they waited for the pizza to come.


	5. Age Eleven

'Dear Moony and Padfoot,  
Eleven years. Wow. At this point, if you write we'll be sending you a rather large package of letters.  
Percy's doing well at his newest school. Maybe he can actually stick with this one. Or force his class into a swim with potentially dangerous sea life.  
Lily's got a new job at the hospital now. She's officially a nurse. She enjoys the work, though sometimes it stresses me out just watching her. There's a lot of long hours.  
Other than that there's not much going on here. I've been doing some thinking, there are quite a few muggle inventions that I think could help our world. The internet for one. Also, cell phones. Owls are rather messy after all.  
This letter's pretty short. Sorry about that. I'd ask after you two and Harry, but it's been a long day, and I don't feel much like pretending.  
Miss you,  
Prongs.'

James hung up the phone with a sigh. Percy'd been expelled, again. There were only two months left in the school year, so there wasn't much point in sending him to a new school until the fall. Lily was on her way home with him.

He briefly considered writing to Sirius and Remus, but decided against it. He ended up pacing until Lily and Percy came in.

Percy went straight to his room without saying a word, closing the door behind him.

James turned to his wife. "What happened?"

"He blew up a school bus." She crossed her arms.

"WHAT?"

"His class went on a field trip to the Saratoga battlefield. There was an incident with a revolutionary war cannon and the school bus blew up. It took over an hour for a new one to get them."

"Is everyone okay?"

"Well, no one was hurt in the explosion." She sat on the couch.

He dropped down next to her. "Why'd you phrase it like that?"

She pushed some of her hair back behind her ear and glanced towards the door of Percy's room. "I think some of the other children beat him up. He wouldn't talk to me about it though. Can you try?"

James sighed and nodded. He stood and walked over to Percy's door. Knocking, he called, "Percy, can I come in?"

Silence.

"Perce? You know, if you don't answer, I'm just going to come in anyway."

"Okay." A small voice answered.

He opened the door with a small frown.

Percy was a lump on his bed. His whole body was hidden under the blankets. James sat on the bed next to him.

"It was an accident. I didn't think it would hit the bus."

"Why were you playing with it?" James put a hand on his shoulder.

"Everyone got a chance to fire it. Someone bumped it so it was in a different direction or something before my turn. "

"I see. They still expelled you though."

"I know." The blankets shifted slightly. "I'm sorry, Dad."

James pulled the blankets of his head. There was a bruise high on one cheek and he had a spilt lip. Percy stared up at him, waiting.

"Did the other kids do this to you?" Percy looked away. "Percy. Did they hit you?"

"They were mad cause they had to wait so much longer to go home."

James signed and pulled his son into his arms. Percy hesitated before returning the hug.

"You're going to boarding school next year."

Percy pulled back. "Why?"

"Because, it's a good school. Your mom and I will make sure you're all caught up on what you'll have missed the rest of this year, in the fall you'll go to Yancy Academy." Percy flopped back onto his bed with a dramatic sigh. "Hey, I went to boarding school! So did your mom. Some of the best years of my life were spent there."

"But that was a *British* boarding school. You're sending me to an *American* boarding school. There's a huge difference." He protested.

"I'm sure you're exaggerating. It won't be that bad." James laughed.

Percy groaned.

"Come on. Just give it a try. It's not like we're sending you to another military school."

"I guess I can try it. Since it means so much to you."

James snorted. "Thanks, little fox. That's very thoughtful of you." He ruffled his hair. "If you really hate it, we'll find another school at the end of the year."

Percy laughed. "Come on, Dad. We both know I won't last that long."

"One can hope. Now, let's get some ice for your cheek and let your mom know you're done moping."

"I wasn't moping!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you prefer the term sulking?"

He scowled. James chuckled and ruffled his hair. The two walked back into the living room and Percy walked over to hug Lily. James heard him apologizing for not talking to her as he grabbed some ice and a dish towel. He handed it to Lily, who had started fussing over Percy.

"I'm fine, Mom, really." He insisted.

She gave him a look. "Let me baby you now, and we can go out to the movies tomorrow."

"I'm not fine." He sat on the couch. "Fix it, Mom. It hurts."

James and Lily started laughing. "Very nice, thank you." Lily shook her head and gently pressed the ice to his bruise.


	6. Age Twelve

Lily was smiling as she walked up the stairs to her apartment. Percy was coming home today. She'd gotten him a bag of blue candy on the way home as a way to celebrate. She couldn't wait to see him. She wasn't even that upset that he'd gotten expelled again. She didn't like it when he spent so much time so far from home. The protective charms they used to keep the monsters away were no help when he was that far.

She unlocked the door and hurried inside. "Percy? Are you home yet?"

"Mom?" Percy stepped out of his room. He grinned when he saw her and rushed forward to give her a hug. Lily dropped the candy onto the coffee table and held him.

After a moment she pulled back. "Look at you. You've gotten far too tall since I saw you last."

He laughed. "Well, it has been six months, Mom. What did you expect?"

She handed him the candy and ruffled his hair. He hugged her again, thanking her before attacking the blueberry sour strings. "Alright, tell me everything." She commanded.

Percy happily told her about his friend, Grover and the school bully, Nancy Bobofit. His eyes lit up when he talked about the cool myths he'd learned in Latin and the tournament days Mr. Brunner had. She could tell he was putting a good spin on the year, especially when he insisted that the fights the principle mentioned really weren't that bad. Still, she could see that he really had liked Yancy.

Percy had started to tell her about a field trip to the Met when he stopped abruptly. Lily recognized the look on his face. She'd seen it a few times over the years, the first time had been when the "scary man" had followed him around the playground when he was six. Anytime something happened relating to Poseidon's part of the family, Percy got that look on his face.

"What happened, Percy?"

"Nothing, Mom." She was knew he was lying, but he changed the subject just before she could call him on it. "Where's Dad? Shouldn't he be home by now?"

She tried to push away the sense of dread filling her. "He probably just got off. He'll be home soon, don't worry." She forced a smile. "I hope you didn't unpack."

"Why?"

"We're going to the beach."

"Really?" He leaned forward, excited. "When?"

"As soon as your dad gets home." He hugged her again. She laughed lightly. "Go make sure you have everything."

"Okay." And he ran back to his room.

\---------------------------line break--------------------

James came home twenty minutes later.

"Dad!"

"Hey, little fox." James hugged him. "Welcome home. Did your mom tell you about the beach?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

James laughed. "Let me get changed first, will ya?"

Percy flopped onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. "Fine. But hurry."

James shook his head in amusement. He kissed Lily and went to change.

Once at the beach, they went through the usual cleaning routine. James "cheated" when Percy wasn't looking so they could get done faster. Lily rolled her eyes at her husband's antics and hip checked him playfully. They got a fire going in the sand after they were done. They roasted hot dogs and made s'mores for dinner. The evening was spent talking, telling stories and jokes, basically anything that came to mind. Lily subtly tried to get Percy to tell them what had happened at the museum. She was disappointed when it didn't work, and decided to drop it. Percy would tell them eventually.

That night Lily told James what Percy had told her earlier and her fear that something had found him. James reassured her as best he could. They cuddled against each other and fell asleep.

(James's POV)

James woke to the sound of someone pounding on their door. He frowned, it was the middle of the night, who could be at their door. Especially since they were on vacation.

Lily sat up next to him. "Hurricane."

"And someone at the door."

"I'll get Percy." She ran out of the room.

James went to open the front door. There was a young satyr standing there looking around anxiously. He had curly brown hair and brown eyes. He kept looking behind him fearfully.

"Is Percy here?" He panted.

"You're Grover, aren't you?"

"Yes." He sounded desperate. "Please, it's right behind me."

"Grover?" Percy said. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. "What's going on?"

"I've been searching for you all night. What were you thinking?"

Percy was staring at Grover's legs in shock.

"Percy, what happened?" Lily snapped.

"You didn't tell them?" Grover scowled

"I-I don't-"

"Percy. Tell us now." James commanded.

He blinked and babbled something about old ladies cutting yarn and his math teacher turning into a monster. James locked eyes with his wife. They had found him.

"Get to the car." Lily said. "Now."

"What? Mom, we-"

"Percy. Listen to your mother and go to the car."

Percy swallowed, but put on his rain coat and hurried to the car.

James floored it the second everyone was in the car. He could hear Percy and Grover arguing in the backseat. Lily made them stop after a minute or so.

"Mom, where are we going?" Percy asked meekly.

"Somewhere your father wanted you to go." She answered grimly. James winced a little. He knew what she meant, but it still hurt. Being reminded that he wasn't technically Percy's father.

"Dad?"

"Not me." He croaked. "Your biological father."

"But I thought-"

"Percy." Lily turned to look at him. "I promise everything will be explained when you get there. Just hold on, okay?"

James saw a shape standing in the middle of the road. He yelped in surprise and swerved. There was a flash of lightening and the next thing he knew they were in a ditch.

He shook his head, dazed. They'd been struck by freaking lightening. 'Damn you, Zeus.'

"Lily? Percy?" He turned to get a look at them.

Lily put a hand to her head. She nodded at him and tried to catch a glimpse of their son. 'She's okay.' He thought in relief.

"Perce? Come on, talk to me." He pleaded.

Percy groaned. "Ow. Mom? Dad?"

"Are you okay?" Lily asked.

"I think so." He turned to his friend. "Grover!" He shook him, clearly worried.

"Food." The satyr moaned.

James looked out the window and paled. It was the Minotaur. They sent the Minotaur after a twelve year old. He would've been furious if he hadn't been terrified.

"Get out." He said. They froze for a second. "Passenger side, now, move!"

They scrambled out of the car. James dragged Grover out while Lily told Percy how to dodge the Minotaur and where to go. James shouldered the satyr and they all hurried up the hill.

"Why isn't it coming after us?" Percy whispered.

"His sight and hearing are terrible. He hunts by smell." Lily explained.

"Food."

"Hush." James hissed.

The Minotaur bellowed and threw their car. It skidded down the road and exploded. They picked up the pace.

James was so preoccupied with trying to dodge the monster and not drop Grover, that he didn't notice how Lily ended up in its grasp.

"Mom!" Percy screamed.

James whipped around and saw his wife hanging in the Minotaur's grip. He reached for his wand only to realize that he'd left it at the cabin in their rush. Percy stood still in shock and fear. James yelled and jumped at it in a desperate attempt to help Lily. It swatted him away like a fly. He crashed into the pine tree at the top of the hill.

His vision was almost as fuzzy as when he wasn't wearing his glasses. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear it. He could hear Percy yell and the monster bellow.

The world came back into focus just in time for him to see Percy drive the Minotaur's horn up under its ribs. The monster burst into dust. Percy rushed to James's side and threw his arms around him. He buried his face in James's chest and started crying softly.

"I've got you." James said. He held his son tightly and tried to ignore the pounding in his head.

Percy looked up at him, tears running down his face. "Where's Grover?"

"Down the hill. I gave him a push to get him rolling just before-" He stopped, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. Lily was gone. His beautiful wife. Percy had lost his mother, and Harry had never even gotten to meet her in the first place.

"I'm sorry." Percy sobbed. "I'm sorry, I didn't do anything. I just stood there, I-" He clung to James and sobbed again.

"Shh. We'll get through this, little fox. Somehow." They held onto each other for another minute before James spoke again. "Percy, you need to go." It killed him to say those words, but he knew that it was Percy's only chance now.

"What? No! I won't leave you."

"Percy, it's the only way to keep you safe now. They'll find you again."

"But, you're hurt. What if something else comes? You can't fight with a concussion."

"I'll be fine. The monsters don't want me, Percy, they want you. This is the only way to give you a fighting chance. Please, don't make this harder. They will explain everything, I promise."

"How will you get home?"

"That's a secret I'll tell you if you decide to come home for the school year."

Percy hugged him again. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, little fox. Make me proud, okay?"

Percy smiled weakly at him before running down the hill. He stopped to pick up Grover and stumbled towards the only house in the valley.

James shifted into Prongs for the first time in twelve years. He started walking back towards their cabin, grief nearly consuming him.


	7. Sirius and Remus

Sirius Black snuck into his dead best friend's house after escaping his makeshift prison in Hogwarts with the help of his godson. He knew he should be fleeing the country, but he just had to come here first. To tell Lily and James goodbye.

He spent a few minutes wandering the rundown house. He found a few old photos and books laying around. Seeing James and Lily smiling and waving from the pictures hurt more than he'd thought. He was about to leave when he caught sight of a memory, tucked away in a corner. He picked it up. As much as the pictures hurt he knew this would be worse. Still, he couldn't pass up the chance to see his friends and hear their voices just one more time. The memory was labeled "Harry's first birthday." Sirius smiled to himself. Maybe he could show it to Harry, one day.

\-------------------line break---------------

Sirius had Buckbeak land in front of his old childhood "home." Number Twelve Grimauld Place. He was sure there was a pensive hiding somewhere in that blasted house. He'd take a look at the memory then head south.

It took way more time than he'd thought, but he finally found a pensive in the attic. He checked it for curses, you never knew in this house, then dumped the memory in and submerged himself.

Sirius had expected to see James and Lily playing with Harry, or getting ready for their friends to show up. Instead he saw James sitting on the couch.

"Hello Sirius, or Remus, as the case may be." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I feel ridiculous. I'm talking to air, Lily."

Lily walked into the room, rolling her eyes. "They deserve to know. Would you rather do this in a note? Where someone else is more likely to find it?"

"Good point."

Sirius sat across from James, stunned. The house showed all the damage from after You-Know-Who dropped by, which made no sense. They'd have been dead by then.

"I suppose we should just jump right in." James said. "Lily and I aren't dead."

"Great way to start, love." Lily leaned over and pecked him on the cheek.

"Hey, do you want to do this?"

"Okay boys." Lily said briskly. "As you can tell, this memory is from after James and I supposedly died. We've decided to go into hiding until the Death Eater trials are over. The two of us are more recognizable than-" She choked up.

James put an arm around her shoulders. "We know that you'll protect Harry, Padfoot. And that you'll keep both of them from getting into too much trouble, Moony."

Sirius had tears filling his eyes. They're alive?

"We'll be in New York until one of you sends word that it's safe to come back." James added. "We figured Siri would find this first since he'll be taking care of Harry."

"We know you pretend to be tough, Sirius, but you're really very sentimental." Lily managed a small smile. "We thought you'd bring Harry to see the house he was born in at some point during his childhood."

"Let's just hope it's not too far out." James muttered.

Lily heard and smacked his arm lightly. "We love you. Please make sure Harry knows that we love him and we miss him. I doubt a day will go by when we won't be thinking of him."

James wrapped an arm around her. "Write us as soon as you can."

The memory ended.

Tears ran down Sirius's face. 'They're alive.' He laughed in spite of himself. 'They're alive!' He grabbed a quill and some parchment. After writing to James and Lily he wrote a second letter to Remus. He'd wait to send everything until he reached France. He was grinning the whole time with only one thought in his head. 'They're alive.'

(Remus's POV)

Remus was sitting in a small room in the Leaky Cauldron trying to figure out where he should go next. Now that he'd "resigned" from teaching at Hogwarts, he needed a new job as well as somewhere to live. Dumbledore wanted him to go make alliances with the other werewolves, but he didn't think that was really necessary yet. The Order also wasn't really needed yet which meant they didn't have headquarters for him to hang around. He sighed, maybe going to talk to the other werewolves was the best option right now.

A tap sounded at his window. He turned. An owl was waiting for him to let it in. It swooped in and landed on the nightstand the second he opened the window. He took the letter it carried and gave the owl a treat and some water before opening it.

'Moony! I just heard Prongs and Red moved to New York. Perfect time to think back on old memories, don't you think? Especially since they left without much in the way of goodbyes. Meet me in the grim place around noon and we can talk. Write me later, Snuffles.'

Remus blinked in surprise. Lily and James were alive and in New York? Either Sirius's mind was worse off than he'd thought or, he was telling the truth. But that couldn't be possible. Could it? 'Perfect time to think back on old memories.' A memory in Grimauld Place. 'Around noon.' The attic maybe. Sirius and his codes. Remus ran a hand through his hair. He might as well check it out.

He apparated to Number Twelve Grimauld Place to find out just how crazy his friend was.

\----------------------line break--------------

Remus sat on the floor. He'd just come out of the memory Sirius left for him. He had his head in his hands and was crying in relief. He'd been so sure... But they were alive. He had no doubt that Sirius had already written to them, mostly James. Remus pulled himself together and wrote two letters, one to James and one to Lily. He kept it short in case someone else got the letters instead. He wanted to be sure it was the two of them before he gave away any important information. He got two long distance owls and sent his letters off with one of them. The other he kept so he could write a third letter to Sirius.

He found himself grinning as much as Sirius had. They were alive and Sirius was innocent, he wasn't alone anymore.


	8. The Letters

James slipped into his apartment. He felt so tired. Lily was gone, his beautiful wife dead. And Percy, well, James doubted he'd see him ever again_ if he did it would be brief. A quick phone call, if he was lucky he'd get a couple hours with him during holidays. So long as Percy wasn't killed on one of those stupid quests heros were famous for or Zeus didn't insist he stay in camp for the rest of his life because he was "too dangerous for the mortal world." Still, James didn't regret sending him to camp, it was his best chance now that they'd found him.

He heard something tapping on the window and looked up. Two owls perched on the windowsill each holding a letter. 'No way.' James thought. 'Twelve years with nothing and now they decided to write? What took them so long?'

He let the birds in and took the letters. There were three, one from Sirius and two from Remus. He got the owls some water and opened the letter from Sirius first.

'Dear James and Lily, I can't believe you're not dead! I only just found your message or I would've owled you sooner. While I am undescribably happy that you're alive, I'm also furious you didn't tell me in person. You have no idea how much trouble would have been avoided if you had. I'll wait for you to write back before telling you everything you missed.

Harry's doing well, you know considering. Again, waiting for your owl before I elaborate. Wouldn't want this to end up with the wrong person after all. Besides, I spent twelve years grieving for you two, so consider it a kind of payback. (Mostly the first thing though, I'm not that cruel.)

Sirius'

James smiled a little. He was ecstatic that he got to hear from his friends again, but Lily was supposed to be here with him. If she were, she'd probably be pissed off about that lack of information regarding their son. He set aside the letter in favor of one of the ones from Remus. One was addressed to him and the other to Lily. He opened the one to him.

'Dear James, I thought Sirius's letter would be more to you than to Lily so I decided to write you individually.

I'm sorry neither of us wrote you earlier, we didn't know you were alive. Padfoot was in Azkaban (long story, I'll let him tell you), and I just couldn't bring myself to visit your old house. He found the message after he escaped.

Harry's fine. I would love to tell you more, but I need to be sure this reached the right person first. Besides, I'm not sure how much Padfoot told you yet.

Awaiting your reply, Remus'

Half hysterical laughter spilled from James's mouth. Of course they both only mentioned Harry in passing. He could understand their reasoning of course, but still. And now he had more questions. Why had Sirius gone to Azkaban? He was supposed to take care of Harry. Who had done it instead? Remus? The Longbottoms? That was the main question running through his head, who was taking care of his son!!

He took a few deep breaths to calm down and wrote a letter telling them about today's events, he started crying again and had to stop when writing about Lily. Then he got the box of letters they'd written over the years and a photo album. He performed a shrinking charm on the package and sent it to Sirius. Then he wrote a short note to Remus telling him that everything was with Sirius and that they were to read it together.

Once he had that taken care of he collapsed in bed and started grieving again.

\-----------------line break-------------

Sirius was stretched out on a beach somewhere in the south of France. It was warm and sunny in this region so there wasn't much chance of a dementor showing up. The beach was some muggle's private land that he'd snuck onto with a disillusionment charm, so there wasn't anyone around but him and Buckbeak.

An owl landed beside him with a shrunken package tied to its leg. Sirius grinned in excitement. James and Lily had written back! He untied the package and summoned food and water for the owl. There was a note attached to the package reading:

'Padfoot, I'm not sure how long it will take Moony to get to you but you *have* to wait for him before you read any of the letters. You can look at the album if you want but *don't* read anything without Moony.

Prongs

P.S. Don't worry, I arranged them oldest at the top newest at the bottom for you.'

Sirius pouted a bit. He wanted to know what James was doing. He took the owl and Buckbeak back to the muggle hotel he was staying in and wrote to Remus so he'd know where to find him. Then he pulled the photo album out and started looking at it.

Sirius was able to piece together some of what happened through the pictures. There was Lily and James moving into their apartment. A couple birthdays and Christmases. Then a little boy started showing up. He had black hair and sea green eyes. Sirius frowned. 'You better get here quickly Moony. I wanna find out who this kid is.'

\---------------line break----------------

Remus smiled when he saw the owl. He made sure it had food and a place to rest before opening James's letter. He was a little disappointed to see that it was more a note than a letter.

'Moony, I sent Padfoot the full story. He's supposed to wait until you get there before reading anything, but you know Padfoot. You should get to him as quickly as you can. Write back when you've finished,

Prongs

P.S. I'll expect a full account of everything I've missed with Harry. Everything! Seriously, I wanna know about my son, damn it.'

He sighed. He wasn't sure he could meet with Sirius to read James's letter. Remus figured Sirius would just send it to him when he had finished. He started writing to James when a second owl flew in and landed on his table. It took him a minute to figure out Sirius's "code." Once he had he packed a bag and left.

\--------------------line break--------------------

Sirius felt like he was going crazy. Well, crazier anyway. He still wasn't sure who the kid in the pictures was. All he knew was that the kid looked kind of adorable and he seemed to make Lily and James happy. Of course he could guess who he was but he couldn't find out for sure because it had been three days and Remus still WASN'T THERE!!

Honestly, how long could getting here take? If he had to spend one more day staring at these letters without reading them-

Someone knocked on the door. Sirius ran over, almost tripping on one of his shoes, and yanked it open. Remus started to say something but Sirius cut him off by hugging the air out of him.

"Moony! You're finally here! I almost went crazy waiting for you."

Remus managed to get Sirius to let go of him and step inside. "You mean you weren't crazy before?"

Sirius closed the door. "Very funny. Come on let's read!"

"I'm surprised you actually waited for me." 

"Yeah, it's shocking. Now shut up. I need to know who he is."

"Who who is?"

"Shhh!" He grabbed the first letter and started reading.

\---------------------line break-----------------

It was dark out by the time they'd finished. They were devastated to learn about Lily. They'd found out she was alive just in time to hear about her death. They were happy James was okay, mostly, and they really wanted to meet Percy.

The next morning they wrote their reply. It took most of the day. There was so much they wanted to put in, so much James had missed. They had several fights about what to put in and how to phrase certain things. They didn't actually send the thing for another day.

After it was gone they chose a place to meet to read the next letter and Remus went back to England.


	9. Replies and Returns

It was a long week before James got Remus and Sirius's reply. He was absolutely furious after reading it. In fact, after he'd read it he punched a hole in his wall.

Sirius had been thrown in Azkaban for their deaths. Remus had taught at Hogwarts before he had to quit just because he was a werewolf. And James knew Remus, he would have been a fantastic teacher. Harry had had to face two different incarnations of Voldemort. And he'd been left with the Dursely's! James could think of very few places worse for a magical child to grow up.

James started shoving things into a suitcase. He fully intended to go back to England and punch anyone remotely responsible in the face. Then he'd kidnap Harry and Sirius -he figured Remus would follow them on his own- and come back for Percy. It was a perfect plan.

He was about to slam the suitcase closed when the air in front of him shimmered and Percy's image appeared. James froze.

"Dad?" Percy frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I-" He blinked. Reason flooded his mind. "I don't know."

Percy crossed his arms. "Oh really? Because it looks like you're packing."

He scratched the back of his head. "Well-"

"Dad! I can't go to England right now! I'm going on a quest tomorrow."

"What? Why would you think I'm going to England?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on Dad. You'd only be this frantic if Moony and Padfoot had written. That means you're planning on going to England."

James smiled a little. "Always knew you were perceptive little fox."

"Thanks." He returned the smile. "Can we go after the summer solstice? That's when the quest will for sure be over."

James ran a hand through his hair. "We're not actually going. I wasn't thinking straight."

"Because you're so very very excited?"

"No. Angry."

"Why?"

James sighed. "Let's just say that things aren't going the way your mom and I thought they would. And it's really not a good thing."

"What's wrong?" Percy frowned.

"Why don't you go first? It's a pretty long story and you mentioned a quest."

Percy told him about Zeus's master bolt being stolen. James agreed that he was ridiculous to blame Percy for it. Percy also told him about about his two new friends, Annabeth and Luke, camp, and how he got claimed.

"Little fox, I'm glad you like camp. And as for your quest, I don't think Hades is the thief."

"I know, but it's the only lead we have."

James nodded. "Alright. But when you meet him be respectful and don't accuse him of anything. Ask if he has any idea who the real thief is but not if he has the master bolt. Got it?"

"I got it Dad, don't worry. Your turn, by the way. What went so wrong?"

"Well let's see. Your brother's living with your mother's sister, who hated is and therefore hates him. Padfoot was framed for our murder by the guy who was actually responsible. He escaped from prison and is now a fugitive. Moony got fired from a job he was perfect for due to an illness which I will explain to you if you come home." He took a breath.

"What do you mean if I come home? Well I guess I might die on this quest, but if I don't I'm totally coming home for the school year."

"Hey! No joking about dying. Especially since-" He broke off, pressing a hand to his mouth.

"Sorry Dad." He looked down. "Are you gonna have a funeral? For Mom I mean."

"Not now. There- there wasn't a body and our closest friends are still in England."

"Okay. Hey Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't change your mind."

"Why? You're not planning on doing anything reckless, are you?"

"Who me? Do something reckless? Don't be silly." He turned. "I've gotta go. We leave in the morning and I have to finish packing."

"Okay. Be careful."

"I will. Love you Dad."

"I love you too little fox." The image vanished.

\----------------line break--------------- 

'Dear Moony and Padfoot, 

Percy's on a quest. I lost Lily, I don't want to lose him too. 

Remus you have to find a way to clear Sirius's name. He should never have been thrown in Azkaban. What the hell where they thinking putting him there? You were always the brainy one of the group so if anyone can do it, it's you. 

Also, get Harry away from that she-devil claiming to be Lily's sister. He never should have gone to her. 

On a different note, I'm terrified Percy's going to try to bring Lily back from the Underworld. It seems like something one of the ancient heros would have done. And we all know how they ended up. I really hope I'm wrong. 

Let's hope Harry's not put in any super dangerous situations this year. Please keep him safe. I'm going to be worried either way, but it'll help if I know you two are watching out for him. 

Percy and I will come see you as soon as we can. I miss you so much. Keep me updated. 

Prongs' 

\---------------line break----------------------- 

'Dear James 

I've talked to Dumbledore about this before. He says that Harry *must* stay with the Dursely's. Something about blood wards keeping him safe from Death Eaters. We weren't sure you wanted him to know you were still alive, so we didn't tell him. 

Sirius wanted to go cheer you up. He decided it was a bad idea when he got a letter from Harry. He didn't want to be so far away from him. It would be harder to protect him if he was on another continent. Of course if you need us say the word and we'll be there. 

Don't worry too much about Percy. He sounds like a good kid and we're sure he'll be fine. If he's anything like you and Lily he'll be a greater hero than the ancients. And if Poseidon's halfway decent he'll make sure Percy gets back to you safely. 

We plan to tell Harry about you, but we haven't had the chance. One of us is still on the run and the other hasn't seen him since the end of the last school year. We both owl him, but this is the kind of thing you have to tell in person. We'll figure something out. 

We miss you, 

Remus and Sirius' 

James was making tea when it happened. It was a pretty routine morning. Get up, make tea, go to work. He heard a gasp behind him and spun around. Standing in the middle of the room was Lily.


	10. Explanations

Lily was pretty disoriented. One second the Minotaur was about to kill her, the next she's standing in her apartment with her husband clinging to her, sobs shaking his body.

"James? What happened?" She looked around for their younger son. "Where's Percy?"

He hesitated. "Why don't we sit down? I'm not sure of all the details and there's still a lot to tell you."

"Okay." She sat, frowning. "How worried should I be?"

James smiled weakly as he sat beside her. He took a deep breath and told her everything. Her "death," sending Percy to camp, his quest, and the letters. Lily has a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes by the end of it.

She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "So our first son is living with people who hate him and has already been in several life threatening situations. And our second son is on a dangerous quest to keep Zeus from throwing a fit that will kill millions of people. Anything else I should know?"

"Well, I've heard people say the teen years are the hardest." She smiled a little at him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Percy should be home soon. He told me the deadline for his quest was today."

They spent the day together in their apartment, trying not to think about how much danger their son was in right now. Or what they would do if he didn't come home.

It took James an hour after Lily read the letters to convince her that charging off to kill anyone who put Harry in danger wasn't a good idea. He hadn't told her all the details Sirius and Remus had told him so once she did find out she was furious. In the end she demanded Sirius and Remus kidnap Harry and hire bodyguards for him so nothing bad would happen to him ever again. She even wrote detailed instructions on the best way to set Harry away from her sister.

Just before dinner time there was a knock on the door. Lily opened it to find Percy on the other side. She threw her arms around him with a small cry.

"Mom." He clung to her.

She ushered him inside. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom. Are you okay? Did Hades do anything to you? Where's Dad?" He asked.

She smiled at him as they both sat down. "I'm okay. Your dad's in the other room. I'll go get him, he'll be so happy to see you, we've been very worried."

"Sorry."

She kissed his forehead. "It's fine. We just worry a lot."

He smiled. "I should message Chiron. Let him know Zeus didn't kill me."

"Good idea." She ruffled his hair and went to get James.

James glanced up from what he'd been working on. "Who was at the door?"

"Percy." 

James's head snapped up, hazel eyes wide. "Really?" She nodded and he jumped up and scooped her into his arms.

"He's safe, James." She half laughed. "He's safe."

"Thank Merlin." His smile faded a little. "Do you think we should tell him about us? Now, I mean. Maybe we should wait."

Lily shook her head. "He deserves to know. We always said we'd tell him when Remus and Sirius wrote. It's time."

He sighed and nodded. "Let's go tell him."

Percy was turning the water off when they came back in. "Dad!" He jumped into James's arms in excitement.

James hugged him tight. "Hey little fox. Welcome home." He kissed the top of his head.

The three of them sat on the couch and Percy told them all about his quest. Lily held him when he told them about Medusa and again later when he got to the part about the St Louis Arch. James was very curious about the Lotus Hotel. He looked kind of jealous when Percy told them about meeting Poseidon.

"Why do I get the feeling things are only going to get more dangerous from here on out?" Lily sighed once he'd finished.

"Because Kronos is rising and the gods refuse to even talk about it." Percy said.

"Speaking of things people need to talk about." James chewed his lower lip nervously. "There's something your mother and I need to tell you."

"Okay first off, awesome transition Dad. Did you practice that?" Percy smiled.

"Percy. This is serious." James whined.

"Sorry. Go ahead." Percy answered.

"Well," James scratched the back of his neck. "Your mother and I- we're- " He coughed and looked at Lily for help.

She sighed and said, "We have magic."

"Magic." Percy echoed. "Not the weirdest thing I've heard lately. So you're what? Sorcerers or something?"

"Actually, we're called witches and wizards. We can perform spells, make potions, that kind of thing."

Percy looked at each of them incredulously. "You're not just messing with me, right?"

"Nope." James said. "It's all true."

"Show me."

Lily pulled her wand out and levitated a book that was on the table. She held it in the air for a moment before putting it back.

"Awesome." Percy grinned. "Can I?" He motioned to her wand.

She handed it to him. "Be careful. I don't think anyone like you has used one of these before."

"Is this how you've been keeping the monsters away?" He asked examining the wand.

"That's right." James smiled. "So, any questions, little fox?"

"So many." Over the next couple hours Percy asked dozens of questions and convinced them to show him numerous spells. He got really excited when James showed off his Animagus form. He demanded to know all about Hogwarts, werewolves, and what it was like to fly on a broomstick. By the time his questions ran out it was eleven.

"Alright." James yawned. "Time fit bed. You want us to take you back to camp tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Percy stretched. "One more question."

James groaned dramatically.

Lily nudged him. "What is it sweetheart?"

"Harry's going to Hogwarts right now, right?"

"He'll be starting his," Lily swallowed. Her voice was quiet. "His fourth year this September."

"Can't Remus and Sirius bring him to visit us over the summer? I mean, it's not an all year school."

James sighed. "It's a little more complicated than that. Sirius is still on the run and Remus won't be trusted with escorting a minor on an international trip."

"Because he's a werewolf." Percy frowned. "That's not fair. As long as it wasn't over the full moon they'd be fine."

"Werewolves aren't really trusted." Lily told him.

Percy yawned. James smiled at him. "Come on little fox. For realio, bedtime."

"For realio Dad? Seriously?"

"I stand by it. Besides, isn't that what all the kids say these days?"

"Oh my gods you're so embarrassing." Percy laughed.

Lily laughed. She and Percy started towards his room. "Let's leave your dad with the, uh, cool kids."

"Hey!"

They both laughed and left James pouting on the couch.


	11. Uncles

'Dear Sirius and Remus,

Hi. In case you couldn't tell from the handwriting I'm not who you're used to getting letters from. I'm Percy. Mom and Dad would be writing, but Dad broke his wrist so Mom had to take him to the hospital. I was bored so Mom told me to write to you.

I actually wanted some advice. There's this girl. Her name's Annabeth and last year she kind of became my best friend. She sent me a picture a couple weeks ago and I noticed that she's, well, pretty. Like really pretty. I'm not sure what to do.

I don't wanna talk to Mom and Dad about it (can you imagine the teasing?), but I really want advice. Got any for me?

Your confused sort of nephew,

Percy.'

Sirius was grinning as he and Remus read the letter. "He called himself our nephew Moony. He thinks of us as uncles!"

"Padfoot." Remus sighed.

"And he's got a little girlfriend! He wants advice, from us! I can't believe it. This is brilliant."

"So you're not at all concerned about how James broke his wrist?"

Sirius thought about it for a second. "Not really. I'm sure it was doing something awesome. We can ask him about it later, right now we need to focus on helping Percy with this Annabeth girl."

"I'm not sure we're the best people to give relationship advice." Remus said doubtfully.

"Nonsense, I had tons of girlfriends in school."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Now, let's see." Sirius started writing.

Remus looked over his shoulder to make sure he didn't put in anything too ridiculous. They got into a couple fights over what to add because "you're not telling him to throw her against a wall and snog her, they're thirteen!" and "he can't just ignore his feelings Moony, a grand gesture is the best course of action." It took two hours to finish writing.

They let the long distance owl rest for a day before sending it off again. 

Just before Remus was going to leave Harry's owl, Hedwig, flew in with a letter. Sirius took it and gave her a treat.

"A letter from each of my kind of nephews. I feel so loved."

Remus shook his head. "What does Harry say?"

Sirius frowned as he read. "He was put in the Triwizard Tournament by someone, he doesn't know who, and now he wants to talk to me." He looked up. "I need to go to Hogwarts."

"Padfoot, no."

"He needs me, Remus! I have to go help him."

"Sirius, no! You're still a criminal remember? You won't be able to help anyone if you get thrown in Azkaban again."

Sirius pursed his lips. "Fine." He snapped. "But I'm going back to England. I'll keep a low profile, I just need to be closer to him."

Remus nodded. "Alright. Why don't you Floo call Harry. That way you can still see him and talk to him."

"Yeah." His shoulders slumped. "It's not the same though."

"I know." He hugged his old friend. "You should write him back. I need to go."

"Okay. See you later Moony."

\-------------------------line break--------------------

'Dear Remus and Sirius,

Percy again. I know I haven't written in like, a year, but I really need advice again.

Have you ever made a promise you couldn't keep?

There were these two kids, Nico and Bianca. I promised Nico I'd protect his sister. She died a couple days later. It's my fault, it should have been me. Nico ran off when he found out. I don't know where he is, but if I don't find him someone else will and he'll get hurt. I can't let that happen. I got his sister killed, I can't let him get hurt, even if he does hate me.

Any advice for me?

Your nephew,

Percy.'

It was January of Harry's fifth year and Remus and Sirius had just gotten Percy's letter.

'Well,' Sirius thought. 'I remember making a promise like that, Harry's still suffering because I couldn't keep it.'

Remus was scowling. "He's what, fourteen now? And he's already got friends dying. What is it with age fourteen nowadays? One of Harry's friends died last year, when he was fourteen!"

"Cursed age apparently." Sirius muttered.

Remus huffed. "Fourteen. This is just ridiculous."

"How should we answer him?"

"Well first off, it's not his fault. I may not know the details but I'm pretty damn sure of that."

Sirius smirked slightly. "Now now Moony. There's no need for language like that."

"Yes there bloody well is! And don't quote Molly at me, Sirius. What does he mean it should've been him? He should've died? Does he realize how that would devastate Lily and James?"

"Remus calm down. He feels guilty so he's taking blame. We both know how that goes."

He took a deep breath. "Right, sorry. It's just, he's a kid. He shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing. Neither of them should."

"I know. Come on, let's write back before Molly comes barging in again."

"Okay."


	12. An Old Friend

Sirius felt the spell slam into him and he fell back into the veil. He could see Harry's horrified face. One thought ran through his mind, 'I can't leave him alone again.' The next thing he knew he was standing in an apartment. He didn't get any time to check out his surroundings as his legs were suddenly swept out from under him. In a heartbeat he was flat on his back with a knee on his chest and a knife at his throat. Sirius blinked up at the boy pinning him. James and Lily had sent him pictures of this kid before.

"Percy?"

The boy frowned slightly. "Uncle Sirius?"

Sirius smiled. "Hello. Um, I don't suppose you'd mind letting me up, would you?"

"Oh." Percy smiled sheepishly at him and got up. "Sorry about that. The war's made me kind of jumpy."

Sirius picked himself up. "Don't worry about it. Are your parents home?"

Percy nodded and dropped the knife on a counter. "Dad! Can you come in here for a sec? You'll really want to see this."

"Hold on a just a second, Percy I'm almost done." James's voice called back.

Sirius got tears in his eyes at the sound of his best friend's voice. It had been so long since they saw each other in person. And now he was here, well, in the other room anyway. Sirius would be able to see him, touch him, and smack him for leaving so suddenly.

James froze in the doorway. "Sirius."

He grinned in spite of himself. "Prongs." Sirius rushed forward and hugged his friend tightly. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." They let go of each other.

"Hey Dad, do you want me to call Mom?" Percy asked.

"No. She's already on her way home." James pulled Sirius onto the couch next to him. "What are you doing here?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "That's a pretty long story."

Percy was staring out the window. Quite suddenly he walked to the door. "I'll be right back."

James started to get up, but Percy was already out the door. They could hear him running down the hall.

Sirius smiled a little. Perfect timing, now he wouldn't have to worry about Percy's reaction. When James turned back to Sirius he slapped him, hard. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?"

"What was that for?" James pressed a hand to his cheek.

"You left James! You ran off and adopted another kid. Did you even check on Harry before you went into hiding. Everyone over there thinks you and Lily are dead, and that includes him! Remus and I never got the chance to tell him otherwise. First we couldn't get him in private, then we found out Voldemort could read his mind. It's a complete mess!" He ranted.

"Voldemort what?" James looked stunned.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you after you explain yourself."

James took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know. We weren't thinking entirely clearly at the time. When Percy came along... he just looked so much like Harry. And then it just got harder to leave. Percy can't fly, we couldn't make a portkey, and we weren't sure we could apparate that far. I don't really have an excuse, Padfoot. It just sort of, happened."

"You know Harry won't be too happy that you took in some random kid while he was left with the Dursleys."

"I know. Do you think he'll be able to forgive us?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

Percy came back into the apartment covered in monster dust with Lily fussing over him. She stared in shock when she saw Sirius.

"Hey Red. Miss me?" He smiled.

Lily stepped forward and hugged him. "How are you here?"

He sighed as they sat down. "I guess I don't really have any reason to stall now, do I?" He would chew Lily out later, when they were alone. Honestly she was supposed to be the intelligent, mature one.

"Nope." Percy said brightly. "Tell the story Uncle Sirius."

So he told them about the Department of Mysteries. James cheered when he mentioned punching Malfoy. As soon as he was done she started grilling him about Harry. Was he eating properly? Did he sleep enough? What were his grades like? How many friends did he have?

Sirius did his best to answer her questions. He was yawning by the time he had satisfied her. It had been a very long day.

"Do you mind sleeping on the couch Padfoot?" James asked.

He shook his head. Lily got him a spare blanket and pillow before they headed off to bed.


	13. Quests and a Birthday

Sirius had written to Remus and let him know that he was still alive. He begged the other man to tell Harry that he was okay, and maybe drop hints f not tell him outright about his parents and Percy. Remus had assured him that he would tell Harry about Sirius at the very least. He also said that the Ministry was looking at his case again and would probably declare him innocent. He suggested that Sirius stay with James and Lily until they made a decision.

(Lily's POV)

Lily found Sirius's pacing both amusing and nerve-wracking. Sirius had been with them for a month and Percy was on a quest again. Sirius had been doing his best to make a hole in the floor since she got home from work. She sighed. "Siri, he's only been gone for a week. Pacing won't help him."

"Do these things usually take so long?"

"They can. He'll come home. He has a lot of good friends who look out for him. If you want to get rid of all that nervous energy try something physical. James goes for a jog when this happens."

Sirius frowned. "What do you do?"

She pushed some of her hair back. "I take extra shifts at the hospital. When I'm home, I read. Sometimes I go jog with James."

"I think I'll try the jogging thing. Can't hurt right?" He slipped out the door before she could answer.

\------------------line break----------------------

Two and a half weeks later they got an Iris message from Chiron.

"Hello Chiron." James said politely. "What can we help you with?"

"Well, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Lily looked up from the journal she was reading. "What's wrong? Is Percy alright?"

"Percy was inside Mt. St. Helen when it erupted two weeks ago." He sighed. "He hasn't been seen or heard from since. We have no choice but to assume him dead."

James sank to the floor in shock. Lily pressed a hand to her mouth to muffle a small scream.

"Are you sure?" Sirius croaked.

"As sure as we can be. There was no body and we've no word form the gods. I'm very sorry for your loss. Percy was one of the better students I've taught."

Lily closed her eyes. "Thank you for telling us, Chiron."

He nodded grimly and cut the connection.

\----------------line break------------------------

James cried the most when Percy came home. Lily just held him tight while Sirius tried to play it off like he'd known Percy was safe all along. Still, when he left to finish his quest it was harder to believe it when they told each other, and themselves, that he'd come back in one piece.

\----------------line break--------------------------

They convinced Annabeth to stick around for Percy's fifteenth birthday. Percy and she had hesitantly declared themselves dating after the incident at Mt. St. Helen.

Near the end of the party Percy slipped into his room and came back with a twelve year old boy.

"Nico!" Annabeth gasped.

The pale boy shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't realize there was a party here."

Sirius grinned. "So, you're the famous Nico."

"Famous?" He frowned. 

Percy shook his head wildly, which Sirius ignored. "Yeah. Percy spends half his time talking about Annabeth and the other half talking about you!"

"Uncle Siri!" Percy was blushing bright red at this point. Nico looked at him with a thoughtful frown.

Sirius laughed. "You know you can only count it as a crush for four months."

Percy sat next to Annabeth and hid his face in his hands. "Dad. Please make him stop."

James smiled. "Padfoot, stop embarrassing him. That's my job." Percy groaned while Sirius laughed. "Nico, do you want something to eat."

"Um, if it's not too much trouble."

"Of course not." Lily answered. "Why don't you sit down?"

He did and looked at Sirius curiously. "Why can you only call it a crush for four months?"

"Because after that you have to call it love!"

"That's seven months, Siri." Lily corrected. "And only if you talk to the person at least four hours a week. Otherwise it's infatuation." She handed Nico a slice of cake.

"Agree to disagree, Red."

Lily noticed Percy and Annabeth whispering to each other. She also caught the way Nico glanced over at the two of them with longing.

About ten minutes later Percy and Annabeth pulled Nico back into Percy's room to talk.

"Leave the door open!" James yelled smirking.

"Dad!"

He and Sirius started laughing. Lily smiled and told them to help her clean up. James was washing the dishes while Lily dried and Sirius put the leftovers away when Percy, Nico, and Annabeth came back out. Percy and Annabeth looked rather pleased with themselves. Nico was blushing and looked a little stunned.

"Thanks for having us over." Annabeth said. "It was great."

"I'm gonna walk them out okay?" Percy looked at Lily.

"Of course sweetheart. It's common courtesy to walk your date to the door."

He blushed slightly and hurried out the door, an arm around Annabeth's shoulder and the fingers of his other hand interlaced with Nico's.


	14. Confession

Remus had stopped by the Burrow to visit Harry and the Weasley's. The Ministry had officially declared Sirius innocent and Remus was trying to figure out the best way to tell Harry that Sirius and his parents were alive. This was his first chance to actually do so. Before something was always in the way. Either Remus couldn't talk to him in person, there wasn't enough time, or someone came barging into the room to interrupt them. Remus promised himself that he wouldn't leave the Burrow without telling Harry.

It didn't go exactly as planned. The first night he was there Harry walked in on him writing to Sirius.

"Um, Professor Lupin? Are you busy?"

Remus smiled at him. "Yo don't have to call me Professor anymore, Harry. I'm not your teacher so just call me Remus."

"Right." Harry shifted nervously. "Can I come in?"

"Of course." Maybe this was his chance!

Harry sat on the bed next to him. "Who're you writing to?"

Remus cleared his throat. Moment of truth. "I've actually been meaning to talk to you about that." he licked his lips anxiously. "I'm writing to Sirius."

Harry frowned. "Why? I mean, is it some kind of coping mechanism for you? Why else would you write to someone who's... dead." He whispered the last part.

Remus took a deep breath. "He's not dead, Harry. I've been trying to find the right time to tell you, he's not dead he's in New York with-"

"He's alive?" Harry cut him off.

"Yes, and-"

"And you couldn't have told me earlier?" He sounded angry now.

"I wanted to tell you in person. I-"

"Is he okay? Will he come back, now that he's innocent? Officially I mean."

"He'll come back, he's fine. He's li-"

"This is fantastic! When is he coming back?"

"I'm not sure..."

Harry hugged the air out of Remus. "I've got to go tell Ron and Hermione, they'll be thrilled." He let go and ran to the door.

"Harry wait!" But he was already gone.

\---------------line break--------------

Remus didn't get another chance to talk to Harry alone. He didn't even get to find out why Harry had come to find him that night! It was frustrating to say the least.

Sirius was taking a muggle flight to England next summer and would be there by Harry's seventeenth birthday. James was planning on coming along, but he and Sirius somehow managed to get seats on different flights, so James wouldn't be there until a couple days after Sirius. Remus was just glad he'd get to see his friends again.

When summer finally rolled around again and Harry was at the Burrow, Remus once again tried to get him alone so he could tell him about his parents and brother. He didn't get the chance until Sirius arrived.

Naturally everyone was ecstatic that he was alive and well. Though, Molly smacked him for not telling them when exactly he was coming back. Sirius happily helped with the wedding arrangements. That night they threw a small party to celebrate Sirius coming back.

Afterwards, Remus and Sirius were talking. They had to tell Harry about his parents and brother before James showed up in two days. Bill and Fleur's wedding was tomorrow so maybe they could corner him during the reception?

It turned out, they didn't have to wait. Harry appeared in the doorway. "Sirius? Remus?"

"Harry! We were just talking about you." Sirius grinned. "Come in, have a seat."

Harry did as he was told.

Remus braced himself. Harry was going to be livid.

"There's something we've been trying to tell you for what? Four years?" Sirius glanced at Remus, who nodded.

Harry blinked. "Okay, what is it?"

Remus opened his mouth to speak, but Sirius beat him to it. "Your parents aren't dead."

"WHAT?"

Remus buried his face in his hands. "Very tactful, Padfoot."

"What do you mean they aren't dead? Where are they?" Harry snapped.

"Um. New York." Sirius answered sheepishly.

"And neither of you thought to tell me this earlier?"

"We tried! Something always came up. That's the other thing I was trying to tell you last year! You just, ran out before I could finish." Remus said.

Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "Why did they never try to contact me? Why did- Why did they leave?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look. "Well, keep in mind that when they left they were still very young. They weren't totally thinking straight." Remus said gently.

Harry said nothing, he just stared at them, waiting for an answer.

"They thought it would protect you. They were recognizable, you were still a baby. They didn't want your childhood to be one Death Eater attack after another and they thought that if they left you would at least have a chance at a normal childhood."

"Yeah well, they fouled that up pretty bad didn't they?" Harry stood. "I have to go... think things over." He left.

Sirius sighed. "That could've gone better."

Remus groaned suddenly.

"What is it?"

"We forgot to tell him about Percy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be cut between Harry and Percy's POVs


	15. Brothers

(Harry's POV)

Harry was pacing. Hermione and Ron sat on the bed watching him worriedly. He'd just told them about his parents and spent nearly an hour ranting about it.

"Harry," Hermione said softly, "Maybe you should write to them. Try and get some answers straight from them instead of yelling at Sirius and Remus."

Harry looked at her incredulously. "Why should I bother contacting them? I thought they were supposed to be great parents, that's what everyone's been telling me, but they could've sent a letter or something to let me know they were still alive!"

"She's got a point, mate." Ron said. "They'll be the ones who know all the answers to your questions anyway. You won't have to settle for a bunch of I-don't-knows if you write."

Harry dropped onto the bed in between them. "What would I do with out you two?"

Ron shrugged. Hermione smiled and pecked him on the lips. "Probably have died in first year."

Harry smiled back at her before laying on Ron's shoulder. "Yeah. I would've."

Ron kissed his hair before they both sent him off to write the letter.

\--------------line break-------------

Naturally Harry didn't get the chance to send that letter for a week and a half. By the time he'd finished it, it had been too late to send. Then he'd had to help with setting up for the wedding and then the actual wedding happened. Remus and Sirius cornered him during the reception to tell him that his father was going to show up the next day. Of course Harry couldn't meet him because Death Eaters crashed the wedding and Harry ended up fleeing with Ron and Hermione. So, a week and a half after writing the first letter- he had to write a new one after they ran- he snuck away from Hermione and Ron to send the letter. Once it was on its way to New York he returned to heir camp and cuddled up against his girlfriend and boyfriend, hoping to catch at least a little sleep before they continued their search in the morning.

\------------line break---------------

(Percy's POV)

Percy was exhausted. Kronos had invaded Manhattan and the only ones who could fight him were the demigods. Thanks to his dip in the Styx, Percy was the only one who wasn't injured. He was, however, in desperate need of a nap. He collapsed on a bed in the hotel they'd taken over, his mind racing. His boyfriend, Nico, was thankfully out of the fight, for now anyway. He was in the Underworld trying to convince Hades to fight with them. His girlfriend, Annabeth, had taken a knife for him. She was being taken care of by the Apollo kids.

A tap on the window brought him out of his thoughts. An owl sat outside holding a letter in its beak. Percy remembered his parents getting owls from Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus. He wondered if this was from his dad. He'd gone to England with his Uncle Sirius just before this whole mess to meet Percy's brother Harry.

Percy sighed and got up to get let the owl in. It dropped the letter and perched to the side, waiting. Percy shrugged. It had flown across an ocean, he figured it could do with some rest. Besides, he'd need it to send a reply.

He frowned when he didn't recognize the handwriting. It was addressed to his mother. His mother who, like everyone else in the city, was passed out somewhere. He hesitated before opening it. It took him a while to read- dyslexia, plus exhaustion, plus handwritten stuff? It was a miracle he could read it at all.

'Dear Lily,

Yes, I am calling you Lily and not Mum because quite frankly you haven't acted like a mum so I don't think you should be called one.'

Percy froze. This letter was from his brother. Percy would've been excited, he'd always wanted to meet his brother, but Harry sounded pretty pissed.

'I want to know why. Why did you abandon me? Why did you never check? You could've written, could've given me some sign that you were alive. Why didn't you?! Sirius told me you've been writing to him since my third year, why couldn't you have addressed just one of those letters to me! Why did you never come back?

Also, Sirius and Remus probably told you who I was living with! You, of all people, know what your sister is like! You know how much she hates magic! Why couldn't you come take me away from her? Do you realize that I've spent most of my childhood dreaming that you would?

Ever since I met Remus and Sirius they've told me that you and James loved me. Hagrid and the Weasleys did too. Dumbledore even said that your love was protecting me! Still, knowing that you've been alive all these years and never bothered to check up on me, I can't help but think that they lied to me.

I guess that won't matter much to you. The only reason I'm sending this at all is because I want to know why. Sirius and Remus told me James was coming. I haven't seen him yet- and probably won't for a while- but I want to hear from you as well as him. Just tell me, why?

Harry.'

Percy sat on the bed. What could he possibly say to this? He hoped his dad had found Harry by then, that he'd explained. But Dad left almost two weeks ago! He should've been with Harry by the time this letter was written and sent.

He stood and went for the door. Annabeth could help him figure out what to say, right? She was much better at this sort of thing than he was.

Annabeth was sleeping when he found her. He sat on the bed next to her and ran his fingers over her hair. He couldn't wake her. She needed sleep to heal properly, and he really needed her to get better. He'd have to figure it out on his own. He kissed Annabeth's forehead and went to find some paper and a pen.

It took an hour to figure out what to say and another thirty minutes to write it out. He'd given the bird some water before he started. He felt kind of bad making it fly back so soon after it got here, but he didn't have much choice at the moment. He stroked its feathers and whispered an apology before sending it off with the letter. Now, he just hoped he had enough time to get some sleep before Kronos sent more of his army at them.


	16. Surprise!

(Harry's POV)

Harry was more than a little stunned when the owl delivered a reply a couple days later. It wasn't so much that it had come back so fast, but the reply itself- and that the owl didn't seem bothered by the wards they'd put around their campsite. The owl was exhausted when it flew into their camp. Ron took care of it while Hermione insisted on checking the letter it had brought for curses and the like.

"Hermione, it's fine. It's probably from my- Lily. It's probably from Lily." Harry told her.

"It's better to have your wand out over nothing than to get hurt for fear of looking foolish." Hermione said firmly. "Besides, if it is from Lily than her handwriting is much messier than I'd expected." She showed him the envelope. Sure enough, Harry's name was a messy scrawl on the paper.

He frowned and tore it open when she handed it to him. He'd seen Lily's handwriting before and that was nothing like it.

'Dear Harry,

Hi. I'm guessing you don't know about me or you'd have mentioned it in your letter to Mom. I'm your brother, Percy. And no, we're not biologically related, I was adopted when I was five. Got alot more questions now don't ya?

Mom couldn't get your letter so it came to me. She's kind of unconcious right now. Well, her and the rest of Manhattan. There's a war going on over here and we're at the center of it. It's really complikated and I don't want to put it in a letter. It would take too long and I'm tired. Hopefully I'll be able to show Mom your letter but it's really doutful I'll survive this. I'll give it to my mentor just in case.

I wanted to rite to you because I thought you desevred a answer, not that I can really give them to you, but I thought you'd want something as soon as posible. That and I've always wanted to talk to you. I've dreamed of having a big brother sence, always I guess. A profacy says I'm going to die in a few days- on my birthday in fact- so I'm not sure we'll ever meat in person. I hope we do. 

Don't be too mad at Mom and Dad. What they did was dum, but they had good intensions. Don't bother riting until after the 18th. The battle will be over by then. One way or another.

Your little brother (Never gotten to say that befor)

Percy

P.S. Sorry about my spelling. I've got dislexia and I'm super tired, like, gonna pass out any minute tired so it's worse then normal.

P.P.S. Oh, and sorry about the bird. I didn't want to leave it in a battlefeild so I had to send it off right away. I hope it's okay.'

"Harry? You alright mate? You look sick." Ron frowned.

Harry handed the letter to him. Hermione walked over so she could read it too. While they read, Harry walked over to a tree and started kicking it, screaming and cursing in frustration.

Hermione came over and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I'm sorry, Harry." She kissed his cheek.

He turned in her arms and buried his face in her neck. "I really hate prophecies."

Ron put his arms around both of them. None of them said anything for awhile. When they pulled apart Ron kept an arm around Harry's shoulders, cuddling him close when they sat down inside the tent.

"I wonder how old he is." Harry whispered.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Percy. He said he was going to die on his birthday but he didn't say how old he is."

Hermione frowned in thought, "Well, the oldest he could be is sixteen with his seventeenth birthday coming up. That doesn't seem too likely though, he did make a point to say that he was younger than you, Harry, so the age gap between the two of you has to be at least a year."

Ron sighed. "Well, I just hope your Percy's not as much of a prat as mine."

Harry flashed him a grateful smile. "Let's hope he was wrong about the prophecy he mentioned. Then we can find out."

"I wonder what he meant by a war? You-Know-Who is still here in England. So what's going on in America? And why would Lily be asleep? If it were just the muggles I could understand, but she's a witch, so why would she be affected?" Hermione mused.

"I don't know 'Mione. We'll have to wait on the answers. We can't write to Lily, and James is probably in hiding with Sirius and Remus. If he still came anyway." Harry mumbled the last part.

Ron kissed the top of his head. "I'm sure he did. We'll talk to him when this is over. And if you don't want to talk to him, 'Mione and I can yell at him for you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly, Ron. I, at least, will be yelling at him either way."

Harry snorted.

"We're serious!" They both yelled.

He grinned. "I know." He turned his head to kiss Ron before leaning over to catch Hermione's lips. "It's part of why I love you two."


	17. Anger

James was worried. He was in hiding with Remus and Sirius. It was a small hut in the middle of nowhere with an almost absurd amount of charms and shields around the place. Harry had run off with two of his friends Ron and Hermione (Remus had told him that they were a little more than friends) and James knew that the war with Kronos was coming to a head back in New York and he couldn't do anything to help either son! To make matters worse, he hadn't heard from Lily in a week and Sirius told him Harry was furious with him. 

The three Marauders did what they could to help with the war, but the Ministry had fallen, Hogwarts was being run by Snivellus Snape, and the Order was scattered. There wasn't much they could do.

On the nineteenth of August, James got a letter from Lily telling him that Kronos had been destroyed and Percy was safe. Better than safe actually, the gods had offered him godhood, which he turned down. When James told the others that they actually laughed a bit. Voldemort had spent years looking for a way to gain immortality and a sixteen year old rejected it when offered. It was funny, for a moment, to imagine old snake face's expression if he ever learned about that.

After that first letter, the three of them were less depressed. Good had won in one part of the world, now all they had to do was spread it.

Lily continued to write to them, even Percy sent a few letters, but the letter Lily sent a couple months later was what nearly caused James to blow up the house.

'Dear James,

I really hope this are getting better over there because things here just got much worse.

Percy's missing.

He went to camp for winter break and the morning after he vanished from his cabin. No one knows where he is or if he's okay. He's just, gone. It's been a week now.

Annabeth has been calling in favors from everyone she can think of, trying to find information. She's come by the apartment a few times. I don't think she's been eating or sleeping much. The last time I saw her she was packed up to go look for Percy. She said she had found a clue and was going to check it out.

Nico has been shadow travelling all over the country looking. I found him in Percy's room this morning. He had just passed out on Percy's bed. He didn't wake up until I got back from work. I made him promise to check on Annabeth and come see me when he found anything before he left.

Please tell me you've found Harry, James. I need to know that at least one of my sons is okay.

I love you,

Lily"

James smashed quite a few dishes in a fit of anger. He was so useless! He'd thought that since Kronos was gone Percy would finally be safe and he could focus on Harry. But no. Fate clearly hated him.

Sirius pulled James out of the hut and calmed him down. Remus joined them after cleaning the shattered glass. He apologized for it later and tried to think of the best way to answer Lily.

\------------------line break-------------------

It was over. Voldemort was dead. For good this time. There had been a lot of close calls. Remus would have died if Sirius and James hadn't been watching his back. James knew that he certainly would have if Remus's wand had been any slower.

James's heart had almost stopped when he'd seen Hagrid carrying Harry's dead body just before the final battle. Remus and Sirius had had to hold him back from flinging himself at Voldemort right then and there. There were few times that James had been happier than when Harry opened his eyes and rejoined the fight.

There were too many deaths. Students, teachers, Death Eaters, Order members, Aurors. James had another mini heart attack when he heard someone say that Percy was dead. Of course then he realized they had been talking about Percy Weasley. He had died taking a spell meant for his brother, Fred. 

James tried to help the injured and comforted old friends as best he could. Sirius caught him after a couple hours.

"You can't avoid him forever."

James blinked at him, "I'm not avoiding anyone."

Sirius snorted. "Oh yes, you are. You're avoiding Harry. You're scared, and don't try denying it, Prongs. I know you too well. Just, go talk to your son."

"What if he hates me?" James whispered.

"Only one way to find out." he shoved him towards where Harry was talking to Ron and Hermione.

He sighed and walked over to them. Harry looked up, anger flashed through his eyes.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

James winced. "I wanted to talk."

Hermione and Ron glared at him.

He swallowed, "Please."

"Not here." Harry said, "People are grieving, I don't want to interrupt them with this."

James nodded and the four of them headed outside. Harry only stopped when they reached the outer edge of the courtyard.

"Well? Talk."

He took a deep breath, "I know that you're angry, and that you have questions so I thought I'd try and explain." 

Harry laughed bitterly, "You want to explain. Fine, go ahead. Tell me why I had to send most of my life thinking that I was an orphan. Why you went out and picked another child to care for instead of just coming to take me!" 

"Harry-" 

"Do you have any idea how many times I wished someone would come take me away? How often I wondered why I was such a freak? Because obviously, I had to be a freak, why else would my aunt and uncle hate me so much? And it's not like I had any other family to tell me that I wasn't. Only I did, didn't I? You just decided that I wasn't good enough. I mean, you crossed an ocean to get away from me. You didn't even bother to let me know that you were okay. Or that I had a brother. Who I'm never gonna meet now. He wrote to me. He told me that he was going to die." 

"He's not dead." James cut in, "He survived. You can still meet him, if you want." 

"Tell me why." 

"Lily and I knew we'd be hunted. There were still Death Eaters running around and we knew they'd want revenge on anyone connected to the death of their master. We thought we'd be more recognizable than you. We left to keep your chances of getting attacked as low as we could. I know that it wasn't a great plan, but we were both still in shock, and we were twenty-one, Harry. Everyone does stupid things when their twenty-one. We shouldn't have left you. That was wrong and I don't think I'll ever be able to make it up to you. But I'd like to try. If you'll give me the chance." 

"Why did you adopt someone else?" Hermione demanded. 

James sighed, "Percy was a special case. We didn't go looking for him. Neither of us wanted another kid after Harry-" he cleared his throat, "I found him in an alleyway beaten half to death. I couldn't just leave him there, so I brought him home with me. Lily and I took care of him until he was healed, but we couldn't bring ourselves to let him go." 

"You didn't have much of a problem letting Harry go." Ron mumbled. 

"I know." he whispered, "I'm sorry. I think I'll be spending the rest of my life saying that." 

"You get one chance." Harry said suddenly, "If you hurt me like that again-" 

James hugged him, "Thank you." 

Harry pushed away and looked down. "Not yet. I haven't forgiven you enough for that yet." 

James nodded eagerly. His mind was replaying the word 'yet.' Harry hadn't forgiven him *yet,* he would do everything he could to fix this. 'Yet' gave him hope.


	18. Meetings part 1

Harry was nervous. It had been a month and a half since the war ended and they were planning a trip to America. Which meant that Harry would be meeting his mother tomorrow. They'd leave sooner, but everyone was helping with the aftermath of the war. Rebuilding Hogwarts and various shops, searching for people who had gone missing, and, of course, grieving for the dead. Harry had attended far too may funerals that first month. 

Ron and Hermione were by his side almost constantly. Harry had found it much harder to sleep without one of them by his side. When they weren't he was plagued by nightmares or couldn't make himself close his eyes at all. Naturally, Harry was there for them just as much as they were for him. He'd lost track of the number of times Hermione had woken from memories of Bellatrix torturing her. Ron had come close to depression after his brother's death. Harry had found him sobbing a few times, overwhelmed with guilt that he hadn't been able to help, or that he'd called him a git so many times.

James was also keeping close. He didn't pester Harry, but it was obvious he was trying to make up for lost time. He went to any funeral Harry was invited to and stayed just a little ways away. He'd waited for Harry to make the first move, not wanting to accidentally push him further away. It took a week and a half before Harry was able to have a full conversation with him without wanting to punch him. He was pretty sure that Remus and Sirius were the reasons for James's behavior. He was really grateful to them.

"Harry?" Hermione walked into the room, "Are you finished packing?"

He sighed, "Yeah."

She hugged him, "I know you're nervous, but she'll be happy to see you."

"What if she's not? I mean, she's got Percy, even if James said he's missing right now, she'll be focused on him, won't she? She won't have time for me."

"Harry" she sighed, "Lily loves you. Yes, she'll be worried about your brother, but that doesn't mean she won't be ecstatic about seeing you."

He buried his nose in her neck, "Where's Ron?"

Hermione laughed softly, "He's just started packing. Insists that it's the twins' fault he's put it off so long."

Harry snorted, "I'm sure it is."

"Come on," she pulled him towards the door, "Dinner's ready. We'll have about half a hour after before we should go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow if we want to leave on time."

\----------------line break---------------

Harry stared up at the apartment building. Ron and Hermione stood on either side of him. Ron took his hand and squeezed gently as James, Sirius, and Remus came over with their bags.

"Right then, let's go." James smiled.

Harry took a deep breath and followed him. He grabbed Hermione's hand when they reached the elevator and started up. He was nervous.

"It'll be fine." she whispered. He smiled weakly in response.

He dragged his feet as they walked down the hallway and ended up being at the back of the group. As a result, Lily didn't see him when she opened the door. She seemed excited to see them and urged them all inside. He was a bit surprised when she demanded to know where he was. Hermione gave him a little push forward. He swallowed as her eyes, so much like his own, latched onto him.

"Harry," she walked over and hugged him, "James said you were willing to give him a chance. Will you allow me the same?"

He closed his eyes before pushing her away gently, "It's only one chance. Mess it up and you won't see me again. Ever."

Lily nodded and kissed his forehead quickly.

\----------------line break--------------------

They were planning on staying for the summer then heading back to England. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were going to retake their seventh year of Hogwarts. Lily would come back with them while James stayed behind so when Percy came back, he would still have one of his parents around. Harry couldn't help but feel jealous of Percy. Lily and James hadn't bothered to do something like that for him. Still, he would try not to let his jealousy affect him when he actually met Percy.

Two weeks into their stay the phone rang. This wouldn't have been weird if it hadn't been the middle of the night. It woke Ron, Harry, and Hermione who had been sleeping on the pull out bed.

"What's tha' noise?" Ron mumbled.

"It's a phone, Ron. Someone's calling." Harry sighed.

"But why're they calling now?"

"It's probably a wrong number." Hermione answered sleepily.

"How d'you make it stop?" Ron buried his face in Hermione's neck.

"I'll do it." Harry rolled out of the bed and started towards the phone. The answering machine picked it up just before Harry could answer. He was about to go back to bed when the person calling spoke.

"Hey Mom. I don't know if Dad's back yet but if he is hi."

Harry heard Ron and Hermione sit up.

"I figured I'd call, let you know I'm alive and all that. Sorry for scaring you."

One of them, Harry guessed Hermione got up and ran out of the room to get Lily and James. Harry was still too stunned to actually pick up the phone.

"Hera kidnapped me, then I was in a coma for a while, and when I woke up most of my memories were gone. I'll tell you the whole story when I get home if you want. I don't have much time, I'm on a quest." There was a pause then, softer, "I'll make it home. I promise." There was a train whistle in the background.

Harry stepped away from the phone when footsteps came running into the room.

"Love you." The line went dead.

James snatched the phone up. "Percy?"

"He hung up." Harry said dully.

James's shoulders slumped. He put the phone back. "Sorry it woke you three."

Lily closed her eyes, "You should go back to sleep. We can listen to the full message tomorrow." It almost sounded like saying that pained her.

Harry shared a quick silent conversation with Ron and Hermione. "Go ahead and listen to it now."

James frowned slightly. "We can wait until morning. It's not like we'll be able to change anything if we listen to it now."

"Besides, you need your sleep," she sounded more sure of herself now, "James and I can wait a little longer. Don't think I haven't noticed how tired you three are when you're woken like this. Get some rest and we'll worry about Percy tomorrow."

"It's honestly fine." Hermione said, "We can tell how badly you want to."

Lily looked at Harry, "Did he say where he was or what he was doing?"

"He said he was on a quest, but he didn't mention where." he answered.

James sighed, "There's nothing we can do then. Go back to sleep. We've kept you up long enough."

The two of them left without another word. Harry slipped back into bed, Ron on one side while Hermione curled up on the other. It took them a while before they drifted off. That night Harry had dreams of the little brother he'd never met fighting for his life against figures he couldn't quite make out.


	19. Meetings part 2

Percy stared at the building, chewing his lower lip.

"Come on, Perce." Nico gave him a little push towards the door.

"What if they went back to England?" Percy said, "I mean, I was gone for most of the year."

"Percy," Annabeth sighed, "They knew you would come back. Even if they did leave they'd probably leave a note or something in the apartment."

"Like that'd help. I think I lost my keys somewhere in Alaska." Percy answered.

"Guess we'll have to knock." Nico shrugged.

"You are so not helping, Koh." Percy frowned.

"And you're stalling." Nico pulled him into the elevator. Annabeth pushed the button.

When they got up to the door of the apartment, Percy hesitated. Annabeth rolled her eyes and knocked before pushing him to the front.

A girl Percy didn't recognize opened the door. She had slightly bushy brown hair and warm brown eyes. She couldn't have been much older than he was though she was a couple inches shorter. Seeing her freaked him out.

"Um, sorry. Wrong apartment." He grabbed Nico and Annabeth's hands and walked back down the hall. Once he heard the door close he let go of them and sank to the ground, dropping his head into his hands. "Oh my gods, they really left. They got Harry back and now they don't need me, so they left."

"Percy, I'm sure that's not what happened." Annabeth said softly. "You called them a couple months ago, right? They were still here then."

"Yeah, but then I didn't show up, so they probably thought-" he shook his head.

Nico curled up against him without a word. Annabeth went back to the apartment and knocked again. Percy held Nico closer. His abandonment fears- which were very slight when he'd first been kidnapped by Hera- had gotten even worse than they'd been when he was a little kid, all thanks to Tartarus.

Annabeth came back. "Percy, they still live here."

"What?" he whispered.

"They still live here. The girl who answered the door is named Hermione, she's your brother's girlfriend."

"Do you want to go in?" Nico asked, "We can go back to camp if you want."

Percy stood and pecked him on the lips. "I'm fine. Sorry, it's just."

"We know."

He kissed Annabeth. "Thank you."

She smiled and the three went into the apartment. Percy was tackled the second he walked in. He only barely managed to keep them from falling.

"About time you showed up." Sirius's voice growled.

"Nice to see you too Uncle Sirius."

Sirius let him go and he was introduced to the other four people in the room. Percy nearly burst out laughing when he found out Harry was dating both Ron and Hermione. Harry noticed.

"What's so funny?"

Percy grinned. "Nothing. Uh, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth, and my boyfriend, Nico."

Harry laughed.

"Where's Mom and Dad?"

"They went to get some take out." Remus told him. "They'll be back soon."

Percy spent the next twenty minutes or so getting to know his brother. Percy insisted on hearing Harry's stories first. They only got partway through before James and Lily came home.

"Mom!" Percy jumped up and hugged her.

"Percy! You're safe," she kissed the top of his head, "Thank Merlin you're safe."

Percy let go of her and hugged James instead. "I'm glad you're home, little fox."

After everyone sat down and dished out the food Lily and James brought home, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico told them about the giant war. Tartarus only got a brief mention, none of them wanted to talk about that. The others were stunned by the time they'd finished.

"Bloody hell, I thought Harry had bad luck." Ron said, "You went through all that in a few months?"

The demigods looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, you guys went through your own war recently, right? It was probably similar, yours was just, longer." Nico pointed out.

"Yes, but Lily and James told us that you'd gone through another war a year ago." Hermione countered.

"What is this some kind of contest?" Sirius cut in.

Percy laughed. "How long are you guys staying?"

"A couple more days. School starts on the first and we have to redo our seventh year." Harry answered.

"Oh." Percy frowned.

"You could come with us," he added.

"I can't go that far from camp for that long."

"We'll visit around Christmas." Nico announced.

Percy frowned at him.

"Lily, James, you'll both be going with Harry right?" Annabeth asked.

James hesitated. "That depends on Percy. Do you want one of us to stay?"

He chewed his lower lip. Nico reached up and pulled his lip out from between his teeth. "No. You guys should stay with Harry. I've had you all to myself for years. I can just hang around camp or New Rome."

"You'll be staying here until we leave then." Lily said firmly.

"Do we even have enough beds for that?" Percy asked.

"I'm sure we can figure it out."

\------------line break-----------

That night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione slept in the living room while Percy, Annabeth, and Nico slept in Percy's room. The adults all piled together in Lily and James's room. The three demigods had waited until the others had fallen asleep before sneaking out and grabbing a candle. None of them could sleep in the dark anymore. They kept seeing monsters in the shadows. Nico was terrified that if he spent too much time in the shadows he would become one. Percy and Annabeth weren't so convinced, he wasn't using his powers after all, but they didn't want to risk it. Just in case.

Even with the candle lit on his nightstand and the two loves of his life on either side of him, Percy found it difficult to fall asleep. He felt a little guilty. Harry had told him about his life. Growing up with the Dursleys, finding out he was a wizard, the wizarding war. He couldn't help but think that if he hadn't shown up his parents would have gone back to England and taken care of Harry while he was still a kid. James and Lily should've raised Harry, not him. Because it had been the other way around Percy had gotten a happy childhood and Harry- well- hadn't. He knew Annabeth and Nico would tell him that it wasn't his fault, he shouldn't feel guilty, blah, blah, blah. Still, he couldn't help but feel like it was his fault somehow.

He decided that he would try to make it up to Harry... somehow. He wasn't sure how, but he could figure it out.


	20. Goodbyes

The next couple of days were nice. Percy showed Harry all his favorite spots in the city. Annabeth and Hermione got along scarily well. Ron tried to teach Nico wizard's chess and Nico tried to teach Ron Mythomagic. Neither instance turned out well.

Since Percy would stay in New Rome during the school year and Lily and James were moving back to England they got rid of the apartment. After all, there was no reason to keep paying rent for a place they weren't going to use anymore.

Nico and Annabeth went with Percy and his family to the airport the day they went back to England.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Percy sighed, "The camps need us, we're still cleaning up from the war. Besides, Zeus still isn't my biggest fan, I don't wanna risk flying."

"Then how are you gonna keep your promise to visit at Christmas?" Harry frowned.

"Don't worry. We've got some favors we can call in."

Harry laughed and hugged him. "Then I'll see you at Christmas, little brother. And you'd better write."

"Demigods don't write letters, we send Iris messages. I'll send you one on the weekends."

Harry grinned and went to say goodbye to Annabeth and Nico while Lily and James said goodbye to Percy.

"We're gonna miss you, little fox." James said.

"It won't be too bad. I've been to boarding schools before, it's kinda the same."

Lily sighed. "I suppose so." she hugged him, "It doesn't change how much we'll miss you though. Remember, if you need us, just call. We'll get to you as quickly as humanly possible."

He grinned. "I know. I'll be fine though. Nico and Annabeth will be with me. I can handle anything with them."

James ruffled his hair. Remus came over before he could say anything.

"We should go. The plane will start boarding soon."

Lily and James hugged him again. "We love you, Percy." Lily whispered.

"I'll see you in a couple months." Percy answered hugging them back.

Ron and Hermione had already said goodbye to him. Sirius ran over for a quick hug and Remus gave a smile and a wave. Then they were gone.

Nico slipped under Percy's arm and Annabeth grabbed his hand. "Let's head home," she said softly.

Percy nodded and they left.

\---------------line break------------

The three demigods spent the last days of summer at Camp Half Blood before going to New Rome for the school year. They went to high school there and helped trained with the legion on the weekends. Percy kept his promise to Harry and IM'd him every weekend night. Well, night for him, for Harry it was late morning or early afternoon.

As winter break came closer Percy, Nico, and Annabeth tried to figure out the best way to get to England. Having Nico shadow travel them was out of the question. Percy suggested having Mrs. O'Leary take them instead, but Nico shot it down almost before he'd finished suggesting it. Annabeth thought, briefly, about borrowing a giant eagle, but discarded it. A son of Poseidon and a son of Hades going through Zeus's realm on Zeus's sacred animal? Horrible plan. Eventually, they decided that taking pegasi was the best option. Nico was still a bit iffy about it, but Percy told him that if he felt really uncomfortable he could ride on Percy's pegasus. They'd bring a couple extra either way to keep them from tiring out.

Once they'd planned out how to get to England, and where exactly they would meet the other, the only thing left to do was wait until it was time to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty short filler chapter. Sorry about that, but we're nearing the end!


	21. Family

Christmas seemed to take forever to arrive. Harry was practically bouncing with excitement on the train ride back from Hogwarts. Ron teased him while Hermione rolled her eyes affectionately. 

Getting off the train was strange for Harry. He'd never had family waiting for him on the platform. Yes, the Weasley's were like family and Sirius and Remus had come to get him fifth year for winter break, but having his actual parents there was something else entirely. He hadn't fully forgiven them yet, but he was close to it. He still refused to call them Mum and Dad. Honestly, he was more excited that he was going to get to spend more time with Percy than anything.

They were going to spend the holiday at Grimmauld Place. It was big enough to fit everyone and, thanks to Harry befriending Kreacher during seventh year, the house was clean and free of curses. Sirius wasn't totally happy with the decision, but agreed anyway. Lily and James had been fixing up their old house while the kids were at school, but it wasn't ready to live in yet.

The Weasleys were going to stay with them, but Hermione had to go home to her parents for the holiday. She had brought them back to England and returned their memories just after they'd left America, and now they insisted she send them letters daily and come home for every holiday. It had taken her a long time to get them to agree to let her go back to Hogwarts at all. She would stop by Grimmauld Place with her parents Christmas Day to exchange gifts, and so they could meet her boyfriends.

Percy, Annabeth, and Nico showed up two days after winter break started. Nico was sharing a pegasus with Percy while Annabeth rode her own. Two riderless pegasi landed behind them.

Harry waited until they'd dismounted before half tackling Percy in a hug.

"I missed you too, Harry." Percy laughed.

Harry grinned at him, "Hello Nico, Annabeth."

"Hey" Annabeth smiled. Nico grunted, leaning against Annabeth. Harry looked quizzically at Percy.

"He doesn't like flying. Or pegasi." Percy explained. "They make him nervous."

"Oh."

Annabeth was frowning at the house. "Is this where were going to be staying?"

"Yeah."

"Not quite what I expected."

"It's bigger than it looks."

Her eyes lit up, "Really? How does that work?"

"Um, I'm not sure. Come on, I'll show up around."

Percy whispered something to the pegasi before following them inside.

\-----------------line break-----------------

Harry regretted offering to give them a tour. Nico was clearly exhausted and grouchy because of it. Annabeth spent most of the time either pointing out flaws in the architecture or gushing about it. Sometimes she mentioned that something was really pretty good but it would have been better if they had just... Percy flashed an apologetic smile at Harry.

"She's really passionate about this stuff." Harry whispered.

Percy nodded, "You're lucky. I had to listen to her plans for Olympus and she wanted me to give opinions about some of it. I'm just glad she had pictures so I could fake it."

Harry snorted.

\-----------------line break-----------------

At dinner that night Annabeth pestered Sirius with questions about the house. Harry may have let it slip that this was the Black family mansion, so Sirius probably knew whatever she wanted to know about the house. He felt a little guilty for setting her on him. Percy and Nico were trying really hard to hide their laughter. It didn't work.

Lily saved Sirius by suggesting that she ask Kreacher some of the things that he didn't know and offering to show her the library after dinner. Annabeth agreed and left Sirius alone.

The second dinner was over she kissed Percy and Nico, told them not to wait up and ran off to the library with Lily following a little ways behind.

"You know when Hermione gets here they'll only leave when forced." Ron said.

"Don't worry, Percy and I know how to get Annabeth away from her books." Nico smirked.

"I'm not sure they have a room for that." Percy frowned.

"A room for what?" Molly asked suspiciously.

"Sparring. It can get pretty destructive, even if we don't use our powers." Percy answered.

"There's a yard out back you can use." Sirius told them, "Just be careful. We don't want the neighbors to start questioning things."

"Don't worry. We know how to deal with mortals." Nico assured him.

"That doesn't sound at all ominous." George laughed.

The two demigods flashed fierce grins and said nothing.

\----------------line break---------------

Harry spent Christmas Eve wrapping the last few presents for everyone. Percy came in around noon and dragged him outside so he could watch him spar with Annabeth and Nico. Everyone ended up outside, watching the demigods. It was pretty amazing. They fought in pairs first, then all together. There were quite a few times that someone cried out, sure that they were going to kill each other, only for whoever it was to move away at the last second. The fights lasted until dinnertime. Molly, Remus, and Lily had gone back inside to make sure that they had a dinner for everyone after the fight was over.

Harry ran up to finish the last couple of presents just before bed. Ron and Percy helped him carry them all downstairs and put them under the tree.

Hermione and her parents arrived at one in the afternoon the next day. Just as Ron had thought, after opening presents Hermione and Annabeth disappeared to the library. Annabeth had been pointing out a few flaws in the Hogwarts curriculum while Hermione defended it.

Harry grinned as he looked around. Nico was once again trying to teach Ron how to play Mythomagic (he had actually started to get it now, though they were going to play wizard chess later). James, Sirius, and Remus were talking with Fred and George (Harry shuddered to think what would become of that). Lily was talking to the Grangers. Molly and Arthur were starting to make dinner, and Ginny was asking Percy to teach her how to fight with a sword.

James sat down beside him. "Good day?"

Harry nodded, "One of the best Christmas's I've ever had."

"Yeah? Me too."

Harry hugged him, "Happy Christmas, Dad."

James froze for a second before returning the hug. "Happy Christmas, Harry."

Harry walked over to ask Percy if he could join in on those fighting lessons.

Later, Bill, Fleur, and Charlie would arrive for dinner and stay until New Year's. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny would return to Hogwarts a couple days later and Percy, Annabeth, and Nico would go back to New Rome. But that was for later. Now, now Harry had the family he'd always dreamed about as a child. And it was perfect.


End file.
